The Elements of Turmoil
by WEEBFANGIRLINVADERZIMRANDOMXD
Summary: Time moves forward without a glance back at what it has left behind. Sometimes, a little chaos here, a little turmoil there, is necessary.  These are the Elements of Turmoil, born of Harmony. Harmony, too much of it, is actually pretty terrible. -Nextgen-
1. Chapter One: Peculiarity

"_**The Elements of Chaos"  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 1: Peculiarity  
>(http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_)**_

_She was the only one that ever treated me like some kind of being that had emotions. That I was a living, breathing creature with thoughts and feelings. She was the first one to treat me this way, anyway. Of course, most would look at me, and find me hideous._

_I don't blame them. I _am _pretty grotesque. But, surely it doesn't mean I'm unworthy of the love and affection of another sentient being?_

_There was the first girl I ever loved. This girl was absolutely beautiful. She was intelligent, kind, smart, funny, and gorgeous. Everything anyone could ask for. She was impeccable, no one was like her. I got her a bouquet._

_When I approached her, the look of dread on her face told me already how she would react. But, like a fool, and convinced I could sway her otherwise, I persisted. I walked up to her, I approached her, I smiled and I gave them to her._

_She was stunned, her eyes large as dinner plates and her jaw hanging open as she stared at me. The moment I opened my mouth, intending to break the awkward silence that had taken over the atmosphere. Then I saw her expression melt._

_Her face turned into an illustration of pure, utter disgust. She thrust the roses at my feet, making a point to stamp on them once. "No." She said simply._

_In that moment, my heart became shattered. I couldn't speak. Tears came to my eyes as she turned around to walk away. I managed to choke out a quiet, "B-but… wh-why!"_

_She was snickering as suppressed by her long, flowing hair that now partially covered her face. In what mimicked pure rage, she growled. "You're so… discordant. Messy. Not to mention, hideous. You're a monster." With that remark, she turned around and walked away, her head lifted into the air._

_ I could barely process what had just happened. Thankfully, no one was around, and even if she was still watching, I no longer cared. I broke down in tears. I was in love with her. Couldn't she see that? Couldn't she see I'd treat her like the princess, nay, the QUEEN that she was!_

_ My sadness slowly began to melt away and turn into hate as thoughts rushed through my mind. Discordant? Hideous? I'd show her discordant and hideous. She had called me a monster. She had treated me like one._

_ And, so, I became one._

_ I wreaked havoc upon the precious, delicious little hometown of her. I ruined it; I would ruin her. I hated her for what she had done to me; I despised her with every atom and particle of my very being. I would not rest until I had murdered her in cold blood with my own hands. _

_ One day, I found her again. It took a long time. Causing pandemonium everywhere I went, every path I crossed was destroyed or broken into so many tiny fragments that they would be unidentifiable at this point. _

_And she scorned me again. She called me a monster, again. She called me a devil. I rushed toward her and found myself surrounded. A flash of light, and I could no longer move._

"Hey! Dad's doing something cool!" A young filly called from the nearby window, her nose pressed up against the glass.

At that, the poofy haired pony swung her head around to glance out the window of Sugar Cube Corner to watch a chimera outside, floating trees around with some kind of unseen magic, and replanting them like some sort of strange, sadistic dental procedure.

"That's Dad, alright~" The pink party pony glanced down at the smaller, brightly coloured earth pony with equally bright mechanical wings. The smaller pony was decidedly neon, with a bright green and yellow mane, red and purple tail, a red body with blue zebra stripes, dark blue horns twisting out of her head, and freckles dotting her face.

"Come on! We need to finish these before the client comes to pick them up~ All you have to do is take a cup of flour, add it to the mix!~"

The younger pony grinned and continued, "Now you've got to take a little something sweet, not sour. A bit of salt, just a pinch!"

The two ponies waltzed around the kitchen, snatching ingredients for cupcakes and throwing them together at record speeds. The ingredients were in unequivocally strange places. A hatch in the ceiling, inside a chair, or in the oven. By the time the cupcakes were actually physically in the oven and they had finished the song, the younger was sweating slightly.

She paused for a moment to examine her surroundings. The house was unambiguously strange, with colourful, checkered, striped, and spotted walls with murals of tornados, cupcakes, and various random items such as chairs, pens, lamps, water bottles. Several of the chairs in the house were hovering upside-down, kept like that by some unseen force. There was a staircase that ran upside-down, toward the ceiling. She plopped down into one of the upside-down chairs.

It was then that the chimera walked in. He seemed to be a long, mishmash of any animal imaginable, attached to a long, thin body. "Pinkie Pie, you'll never guess what I did to this flower! It's marve- Ooooh, looks like you finally got up. Disorderly dreams, I hope?" With that, the young pony hybrid made a quick attempt to buck at the creature, unfortunately missing him. He chuckled.

"Ah, try twisting your legs more. Then we can work on doing it upside down." He grinned toothily.

Pinkie Pie hopped over, examining the flower behind his back. "What? What is it, Discord?~"

Discord slowly pulled what looked like a perfectly blossomed rose, coloured and rippled tie-dye out from behind his back, smirking and handing it to Pinkie, whose face lit up. "AWWWW!"

"It used to be a dandelion. I spiced it up." He explained briefly.

"Bleh. Romance. I'll stick to myself for now, thanks." She grumbled to her parents.

Discord shrugged. "Suit yourrseelff." He grumbled, grabbing a glass and filling it with water, quickly drinking the glass and throwing the water in the trash.

"I still don't understand that, Cordy~" Pinkie sang.

"I do!" Candied Chaos barked quickly, doing the same, as Discord adjusted many of the pieces of décor in the house to make them slightly more interesting. A change in pattern, perhaps, or some more things upside down or sideways.

"Understand what?" Discord seemed bewildered, cocking an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie.

"… Never mind. Anyway, we made cupcakes!"

"Of course! I heard the song outside, positively turbulent!"

Pinkie nodded. "Yep!" She murmured, placing the rose in a vase. Discord leaned forward, kissing her briefly.

Chaos made a gagging noise. "Eaugh."

Discord glanced up. "I'll remember that when you want to get married to some normal pony."

Chaos only laughed. "Riiight. Because I find normal ponies SO appealing!"

_I was alone. Alone for a long time. Silence. Eventually, tour guides came and went, saying I was some kind of memorial, I represented something. It changed every time. I've seen so many fillies and colts that they blur together._

_At some point, I became free. I was free. Now to get my revenge. I zipped off to get what I deserved. To give Celestia what she deserved. Representing myself in the stained glass, I spoke to her six little bodyguards. I decided to have some fun with them._

_ Turn them into the opposite of their elements of harmony. Perfect. That was when I first met _her. _At first, all I really felt was scorn. She was just another filly. I didn't care for her any more than I cared for the others. I almost got back at Celestia. I came very, very close to ruining her kingdom. _

_They came for me. They sealed me away again, and threw me into some dark, damp cave. Intending to keep me there forever. Away from the public, they said. I was evil, they said. I was terrible, they said. I was ugly, they said._

_I was a monster, they said._

_I would come free again some way, somehow. I'd do it. I really, truly would. And I fully intended to. As I sat there, waiting in the damp, frigid air, I suddenly saw a speck of light and one of the most beautiful sounds, to this day I've ever heard. A quiet half hummed, half sung song._

"_All you have to do is take a cup of flower, add it to the mix!  
>Then you gotta add something sweet, not sour—a bit of salt, just a pinch!<br>Baking these treats is such a cinch, add a teaspoon of vanilla!  
>Add a little more, and you count to four, and you never get your fill-a!<br>Cupcakes, so sweet and tasty!  
>Cupcakes, don't be too hasty!<br>Cupcakes! Cupcakes, cupcakes, cupcakes!"_

_Outraged, I waited until whatever creature it was came before me. It was the filly. The pink one. The one who liked parties and laughed all the time._

"You should get to bed, wouldn't want to have normal dreams. Or worse, normal dreams at all…" Discord murmured to his daughter, nudging her neck toward her bedroom. "We can have an EXTRA crazy day tomorrow."

"I don't want to." Candied Chaos grumbled, shuffling her feet and keeping herself. "I'm not tired."

"You're being " Pinkie Pie paused to take a breath. "" Another breathed. "Disobedient! I think I'm getting a twitch!" Pinkie's tail began to twitch. "If you don't go to bed RIGHT NOW… The monsters are gonna get you!"

Candied Chaos only glanced over her shoulder and snorted. "Cotton candy clouds would rain chocolate before that happens."

She watched her parents exchange a glance, and Pinkie began laughing hysterically before straightening and coughing. "Uh, young lady! You, err, should, um, go to bed."

"Ahh, how I do love turmoil." Discord mumbled contentedly to himself, though, with an ireful glance from Pinkie, he straightened. "Ah, go to bed."

"Fine." She grumbled, turning trotting up the upside-down staircase, though her pace was mockingly slow as she whinnied into her room.

When he was sure that his daughter was gone, Discord turned to Pinkie Pie, chuckling. "At least you didn't have to sing the song again. I might have to remix it."

"Which one? I have lots of songs!"

_I was unsure how to react at first. I suppose I couldn't react either way. Perplexed by her sudden appearance, she stopped before me and set the lantern in front of her. "Hi." She said quietly. The blue eyed pony hung her head._

"_Sorry." She mumbled, shuffling her feet. "I don't think you're really a super bad guy! I think you're just mad!"_

_How dare she! The foal stumbled in here, singing some sort of song about cupcakes and told him she was sorry. Sorry for what? Sorry for turning me into STONE? For damning me to an eternity in the darkness of this horrible cave?_

"… _I think someone was just mean to you. No one's really bad on the inside. Even Nightmare Moon wasn't just bad, she was just jealous…"_

_Pinkie inched toward the stone figure, rubbing her head against his leg. "I think I'm right. Someone didn't like a party you threw! Or someone didn't throw you a party. Should I throw you a party?"_

_The pink pony glanced up at him, forever frozen in the fearful, terrified pose. Discord desperately wanted to nod. Damn Celestia! Damn her and her arrogance!_

_Had he been able to move, a tear would have fallen from one of his eyes. He was so desperately in love her. He had been. He wanted desperately for her to love him. No more did he bother._

"… You should, uh, visit your friends." Discord suddenly muttered.

Pinkie paused. "Whaa?"

"Your friends. The other elements. Have a crazy party or something. Play some songs backwards, dance on the ceiling." He mumbled thoughtfully, half to himself.

"… They all moved away, I can't! I have other friends now. Apple Jack is still in Ponyville! I'm happy with you and Candied Chaos!"

"AppleJack is all the way over in her estate, which happens to be quite bland for my tastes."

Discord suddenly stopped. "What about Chaos?" He blinked for a minute, "Her life is going to be pretty boring, even for such a damper little town like this, if she doesn't meet any ponies!"

Pinkie blinked. "She doesn't have her cutie mark, though! She'll be made fun of, I knew these three fillies when I was younger who spent all their time trying to find their cutie marks! All the fillies and colts her age have them. You know about the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"She's half chimera, we have no idea if she ever will get one. Hell, she has chaos in her name. We never know what to expect. That's what makes every day exciting, I suppose."

"_I…" Pinkie sighed. "I think you're good!" With that, I would watch, half in interest and half in anticipation, as she began to pull something out of the bag she had brought along. It was a necklace. It wasn't until she was putting it on that I could fully see what it was that she had around her neck. It was the Element of Laugher._

_It took some extra effort for Pinkie to get me back to my chaotic self. A flash of light here, a burst of sparks there, but at one point, her eyes opened, glowing brightly, and the layer of stone around me shattered, leaving nothing but me, darkness swirling around me and beginning to swallow me up._

_I woke up a long time later, seemingly hours, with a small pink filly sleeping next to me, the element still around her neck. I must have been out for a while._

_I did consider leaving. But, in the end, I decided to stay, at least until she woke up if nothing more than to make sure that she would be okay. Hours passed, until she finally woke up and looked up at me. "You're okay! And Equestria isn't all uppy sidey downy!"_

_Sometime, perhaps, in that moment did I decide that I may be content just like that. To stay with Pinkie Pie. Of course, we talked of the consequences of bringing me back to Ponyville, and we talked of me having to live far, far away. In the end, I did something I would have never considered, and it was all because I realized I wanted to stay with the poofy haired party pony._

_I swallowed my pride, bowed before Celestia, and gave her my sincerest apology and promise that I would, never again, cause trouble to Equestria, or I should be smited before her. She looked down upon me with scorn, of course._

_I didn't care. Time passed, Pinkie Pie let me stay with her, and I grew to love Sugarcube Corner and Pinkie Pie's spontaneity and momentary insanity. _

_At this point, the original owners of Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake, had long since been gone to fulfill their lifelong dreams to create the world's largest gummy bear, which would stand at over 50 feet tall and 20 feet wide. They had left it to Pinkie._

_I grew to love Pinkie Pie. I was happy with her. She was bright, bubbly, and if fizzy is a proper adjective to describe a pony, then she was fizzy. In my eyes, she was positively perfect and I'd have no one else._

_My own fear kept me back. What if she was like Celestia and didn't care for me back? What if she looked at me and thought that I was some ugly fiend, some hideous monster? That I was just another ugly chimera?_

_The moment was spontaneous. In an attempt to teach me to bake, she looked over, grinned, and mumbled, "I love you, Cordy~!"_

_That was the first time in my life I'd ever heard those words being said back to me. I'd dreamed of the moment, I'd thought about it. I never thought I'd ever had it. And it was the first time I cried. This was the first, directly kind thing I'd ever had said to me. By a pony, one of Celestia's subjects!_

_It took a few months for me to fully grasp where I was in life. Time passed. Going down the roads to go pick up some sugar or candy or flour or whatever odds and ends Pinkie requested, I'd get strange stares, whispers, looks. _

_It was Discord. The evil chimera that tried to kill Celestia. The evil guy who turned everyone into their opposites. The guy that loves chaos._

_But, no. It didn't matter anymore. I had Pinkie Pie. She loved me. She really did, because I could see it in her eyes. This didn't stop me from the initial worry that she may be lying because she felt bad for me. But as time passed, I saw the truth._

_Pinkie Pie's friends, of course, were worried. They were downright concerned when I had first come back to Ponyville with her, sheepishly looking around and terrified of the judgmental stares I would receive. _

_That Sparkle girl, in particular, was suspicious. I overheard her expressing concern to Pinkie. She didn't like me. Sure, her friendship with Pinkie didn't really suffer. But she despised me. Oh, did she hate me. I could see it in her eyes. I read her like those books she loved so much._

_The apple one, what was her name? … Apple Jack. She was openminded. One day, she pulled me to the side and simply told me, "Ah ahprecciate ya takin' care of Pinkie, Discord. But don't ya think that if ya lay a finger on her the other four of us won't be turnin' ya back to stone faster than a jackrabbit runs. Ya hear?"_

_I had smiled, finding it almost funny. "Never, my dear Apple Jack, would the thought cross my mind."_

_The farmpony had grinned. "Then ya have mah blessin'." And removed her hat, pressing it to her chest and nodding, before replacing her hat and turning._

_I liked her. She trusted me. The first one of them to trust me, aside from Pinkie Pie herself._

_Sparkle hated me, and the feeling was mutual. She tried to be nice to me, though it was awkward. She distrusted me, and I could see the hatred in her eyes. Though she tried hard not to be angry with Pinkie, it seemed almost as though she had a grudge. I wouldn't blame her. They worked rather hard to seal me away. It wasn't worth trying to apologize or talk to Twilight Sparkle about._

_I rarely talked to Fluttershy, she seemed much too quiet. Though when we did speak, she was courteous to me. That was to be expected, after having to manually reverse her personality. Rarity seemed uncaring though judgmental due to my appearance, constantly insisting I could get a makeover, but Pinkie would push her off and laugh, saying she thought my 'freakiness' was cute. Ah, well. Pinkie's opinion solely mattered._

_Rainbow Dash was very suspicious of my relations with Pinkie Pie, at first. Seldom did she speak to me, and it took several weeks before finally, she pushed me to the side, raised an eyebrow, and paused. "… Ya know, Discord…" She grumbled. "I'm stubborn, but I think I was wrong about you… I think maybe you're an okay guy."_

_Unfortunately, the friends began to drift as the years moved on. Neither Pinkie nor I had talked to them since Candied Chaos was born, they moved away, all to different places, scattering across Equestria. From what we had heard, Applejack was still in Sweet Apple Acres, though everyone else had moved to different areas. Including three of the pony's little sisters. It seemed sad to me._

_A group that had so often had so much in common and had loved each other, now broken apart. They moved past their childish dreams and lived their lives. I seemed to be the only one that saw something wrong with the picture, because Pinkie seemed perfectly content._

_I just had to wonder if someone was wrong with me._

_Everything was far too harmonious in Equestria. But, what could be wrong?_

_I suppose I'm the only one that hates harmony._


	2. Chapter Two: Rebellion

"_**The Elements of Turmoil"  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 2: Rebellion  
>( http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_Chavonne/AppleCore(dot)png**__**)**_

The morning light filtered in slowly through the blinds of modest house, filling the room with light, very slowly. It began to illuminate the room with a soft dawn glow before spreading its golden rays across the room, spilling around the home as darkness faded to dawn.

When Fluttershy rose, she found the other side of the bed had been long since cold, messy and unkempt. She smiled sheepishly and slowly made the bed, smiling and humming quietly to herself. Big Mac had most likely been out there since long before sunrise. She quietly trotted downstairs and knocked on the door nearest to the kitchen. When there was no answer, she slowly creaked it open and poked her head in.

"Applecore, dear?" She whispered softly. "It's time to get up…" She quietly moved forward, and when the filly, wrapped up in the blankets that were strewn across the room didn't stir, she quietly nudged the foal's head.

"Mmfmm…" Applecore grumbled, raising her pale orange head and glancing sleepily at Fluttershy. "Whaaaat?"

"O-oh dear, it's just, I thought because your father might be tired and hungry when he comes back, so I thought that maybe, oh, maybe I was wrong…"

"Eeyup." Applecore grumbled, putting her head under the pillow and immediately falling back asleep with a loud and satisfying yawn.

Fluttershy paused, first opening her mouth to say something, but then smiling to herself and gently closing the door. She went outside and began to prepare breakfast, just as Big MacIntosh waltzed in the door. "Ya wouldn't believe just how hot it is out tharh…" He grumbled, moving forward and kissing Fluttershy for a moment, who blushed.

"Oh… Is it really that bad? Should I he-"

"Naw. Ya'll just stay here, now. Ah'll take care'a this here farm we have, and that _Ah _maintain." He mumbled proudly, nuzzling Fluttershy's neck for a minute and sitting down. "What are ya cookin', applesauce?"

"Oh, uh…" Fluttershy stammered, blushing. "Nothing, just some eggs. I thought I'd let Applecore sleep in today… She was tired…"

"Ah hope so. That girl can really run around. She tired me out, eeyup, she did."

Fluttershy smiled at him. "She does that to me, too." She cracked several eggs and fried them quickly, and set five before Big Mac.

"Aww, darlin', yer so sweet…"

Fluttershy smiled sweetly and poured him a cup of coffee, just as Applecore stumbled out in her pyjamas. "Mornin'…" She murmured, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Why, good morning." Fluttershy turned and smirked quietly, kissing her daughter on the top of the head. "Did you sleep okay?

"I did." She nodded, sitting down, and Fluttershy set two eggs in front of her.

"Daddy's been out since it was dark."

"Really, dad! Did you buck all the trees?"

"Sure did, sweetheart." Big Mac chuckled, smiling at his daughter as he chewed on the lengthy piece of grass. He was still sweating slightly.

Fluttershy served herself last, sitting down with her plate of two eggs and smiling across from Applecore, whom was fixated with breaking the yolk in her egg and swirling it around the egg white.

_The first time Fluttershy was aware someone was outside was when she heard a crack, and a small cry of pain from outside. She jumped up from her seat, hurrying out the door to find Big MacIntosh, doubled over in pain, his forelegs crossed against his chest, panting. _

_She scurried outside, fear lighting up her eyes as she jumped out and darted toward the large stallion, hooves clopping against the packed earth as she rested beside him. "O-oh dear!"_

"_Augh…" The red pony grunted, forcing himself to his feet, while Fluttershy stopped him by planting a hoof on top of him. "Oh, no, please, don't do that…" She murmured quietly, staring at him in worry with blue eyes wide. "Y-you'll be hurt." Fluttershy felt weak in the knees as she struggled to help the earth pony somehow, fluttering all around him from various angles. "O-oh… You hurt your knee…" _

_The muted yellow Pegasus, from her angle, could now clearly see that his knee was bent at a grotesque acute angle, and she landed softly. "Okay, erm, MacIntosh, ah, Big Mac, uh, Mac, earmm… MacIntosh, okay, uhm, well, you see, you should, uh…"_

"_What, ya little filly?" MacIntosh was staring up at Fluttershy, through his painfully obvious agony, he managed a sore smile from the ground and the awkward angle his neck was bent at. Fluttershy looked up again, assessing the damage of the situation. He had been trying to lift what appeared to be several heavy boards of wood, and then… She spotted a small rock near his foot. That must have tripped him, of course… _

"Dad! D'ya need any help today?" Applecore asked, racing around the large crimson stallion with her chest puffed out. Big Mac grinned, taking off his hat and putting it on her. He paused for a moment. Oddly enough, it seemed to fit her rather well. He grinned to himself, reminding himself to give her one of her own later.

He paused dramatically, in 'thought' "Ah don't think so, sugarcube, but if y'all wanna keep me company, ah'd b-"

"Yay!" Applecore pranced around him, grinning in delight, occasionally bucking.

MacIntosh smiled to himself, glancing at the door. "Ya ready?"

"Mhm!" Applecore exclaimed, hopping toward the door while Fluttershy smiled. Big Mac kissed on the cheek. "Ah'll be seein' ya this evenin', Ah'll be sure we're home just around sunset. Ah love ya." He murmured, nuzzling her neck for a moment and smiling before darting out the door with his daughter, still awkward on her too-long filly legs.

"What're we doin', pop?"

"Well, we gotta take care'a the carrot fields, don't we?"

"Okay!" Applecore skidded to a stop in a muddy puddle, splattering her orange coat with dark brown mud before she got to her hooves and followed her father to the designated field.

_Big Mac sighed as Fluttershy let him down on her couch. "O-oh dear, this looks bad…" She murmured, examining his knee. "Uh, okay, I'll, uh. I'll get some bandages, okay? And then we… we can see what happens from there. I, uh. I'll… I can bandage it and get you an ice pack, and uh, some erm… p-painkillers." She murmured, dropping the end of her sentence._

"_Some what?"_

"_Some painkillers…"_

"_Oh. Er. Ah'm okay, but thank'ya kindly." Big Mac tipped his hat to the filly, with a weak, if awkward, smile. He forced himself to his hooves immediately, but toppled over once again onto the couch with an audible grunt._

_Fluttershy gasped. "O-oh dear… She murmured, gently helping the massive red stallion to his feet and putting him down on the couch again. "N-now, Mister, uh, MacIntosh! You need to… uh…" She grew quiet and MacIntosh chuckled to himself. "Big Mac is fine, and ahlright, ahlright. Ah'll stay here for a couple minutes 'ta catch mah breath. Alright?"_

"_O-okay…" Fluttershy blushed, prancing noiselessly away and coming back with an ice pack and some bandages. "Should I let Apple Jack know you're going to bed here for a while?"_

"_She'll be fine. She's a li'l impatient, but the gal needs to get over it mighty soon. Besides, lately she's been busy with that… Blueblood boy. I dunno if I laik him. Snooty."_

"_Oh… Uh, okay." Fluttershy blushed, remembering Apple Jack had mentioned Blueblood a couple of times but not quite remembering why or in what context. She had been too busy with Angel's sickness to really know._

_Her eyes scanned over his bulk, strong, well-built shoulders, his muscular back… And his facial features were none too shabby either. She blushed immediately. She realised that she did, kind of, somewhat, somehow, perhaps… She kind of… liked him? The notion startled her._

_When she was a filly, all of her friends had had crushes on all of the other colts. But never her, she had always been… Asexual or something. She blushed. Was she really thinking about this? _

"Hah! Be careful thar, sugarcube!" Big Mac smiled, laughing for a moment and trotting over to push his daughter up, smiling. Her blonde mane was tangled, in spite of the fact that it was pulled up, with heavy amounts of mud, woven in like dark coloured streaks. Applecore shrugged, promptly shaking it all off and trotting off once again, leaving Big Mac in the dust, grinning to himself.

He recalled the last time he had let her work on the farm, and he looked at the missing chunk of her left ear with disdain, and his face fell, even as he ran. Never again. She wasn't going to end up like Braeburn. He cringed.

Braeburn. Before the accident, the orange pony was… Well, he had come to visit them often. Him and Fluttershy. He had passed while Fluttershy was still carrying Applecore and MacIntosh was terrified at the notion of being a father. He still didn't exactly know what he was doing. He still felt guilty for letting Applecore get hurt.

"!" Applecore called from across the field. Big Mac realised he had stopped in his tracks. "Sorry, darlin'! On mah way!" He chortled to himself and set off at a canter toward Applecore.

"What do ya need help with!" Applecore grinned, prancing around him, and Big Mac mockingly put a hoof up to his mouth. "Hmm. Weeeeelllll. If I had a little filly that could help me go around and pull up some of the carrots to feed the rabbits, maybe we could dig around the mud a little afterw-"

"OKAY!" Applecore exclaimed quickly, darting to the large plot that held the carrots and barreling through the field, reaching some sort of top speed. Big Mac slowly smiled to himself, about to stop her, but he thought better of it and dove in.

"_Okay, are you… Are you sure you'll make it back okay?" Fluttershy asked nervously, blushing and shuffling her feet. Big Mac glanced over at her and smiled weakly. "Yeah… Ah'll be ahlright." An awkward silence followed as Big Mac shuffled lopsidedly shuffled to the door._

_He stood by the door for a minute, then looked over his shoulder. "Uh. Fluttershy, is it? Well, uh, Ah would like to personally, thank ya for yer kindness and help and Ah'd like to invite you to come over to the farm someday, to uh, for dinner." Fluttershy noted that his face was an even deeper shade of red, and blushed as well. _

"_O-Oh… Okay!" She squeaked suddenly, looking at the floor and trying not to look up at him. Big MacIntosh smiled toothily. "Ahlright. Well, Ah'll be seein' ya, then." He tipped his hat just as she looked up and slowly he walked out._

_Did he just…? _

_No, he couldn't have possibly. No one had ever really… They wouldn't._

Though they were upright and walking, Fluttershy was leaning against Big Mac, yawning contentedly while Applecore pranced around them on those sticklike filly legs of hers that were still much too long. He eyed her bare flank for a while.

Still nothing. She was older than Applebloom had been, but, for some reason… His stomach flopped around inexplicably. Was there really any reason for him to worry? Apple Jack hadn't gotten her cutie mark until she was two or three years older than Applecore. He shrugged it off. There was no reason to worry.

Everypony got their cutie mark at some age! He had heard stories about some ponies being born with them, and some ponies not getting theirs until they were Fluttershy's age, but they were so rare, and ponies always got them…

He shrugged it off. Applecore would be fine. He looked over at the muted yellow, pink-maned pony leaning against him as they walked along the trail that spiraled into the Everfree forest. They had all just hosed down and eaten, and the last orange rays of the sun were casting a warm glow on the family of three.

"I think we should get going." Fluttershy sighed, smiling and stretching. Big Mac nodded and Applecore turned and followed suit.

_Big Mac stood at the edge of the property he had just purchased with Fluttershy. The center of the Everfree Forest. He stared at the foundation of the new home, and the signs planted carefully at the edges of the property: 'Gala Farm' it read._

_He trotted through the turned-up mud and glanced around. Fluttershy was in her home. When they had started to date and MacIntosh was bold enough to finally ask her to be his girlfriend, he remembered Applejack's initial shock, then approval, claiming that she had always been hoping that Fluttershy would get a big hunk of stallion, and that no one was a kinder soul than he._

_Big Mac smiled weakly at the memory. Their relationship was slow and awkward, but now, they were at a stage where it was completely comfortable, and they were comfortable with each other, and even showing some affection in public wasn't really a problem for them anymore._

_It had been three years. He had decided it was time to leave the Apple estate, as Apple Jack was going to take it over any way. To start his own plot and make his own living. _

_He was going to do it with the girl he loved. He was going to do it with Fluttershy._

_They'd raise animals and grow things in the middle of the forest and return to Ponyville for supplies when necessary._

_Braeburn may come out and help them, now that Fluttershy was pregnant and couldn't do any work. The prospect excited him. Finally! He'd live on his own without Granny Smith tanning his hide for every little lost apple or bit._

They were trotting back now. Big Mac yawned. It was starting to rain, even as the sun set, and Applecore was steadily trotting ahead. "Wait just a minute!" He called but she sped forward. He sighed and shrugged, mumbling partially to himself, partially to Fluttershy, "That filly…"

A crack of thunder sounded and lightning flashed.

A strange, faint noise echoed through the night. A noise that made Big Mac's hair stand on end as he started to canter forward, and he came across Applecore, lying limply in the mud.


	3. Chapter Three: Spite

"**The Elements of Turmoil"  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 3: Spite  
>(http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_Chavonne/Gem-1(dot)png )**

"Auntie Sweetie?"

_Wow, it was actually pretty cold. Maybe he should have brought a _jacket_. This kind of sucked. _

"Yes?" The white unicorn swung her head around to turn around and scan the room for the one who had called her, her curly purple mane bouncing cheerily as she scanned the room, looking for him.

_Hah. Where would he get a jacket from, anyway? He didn't have anywhere to go. Silly. But, maybe… Nah, it was kind of crazy anyway._

"Am I… Am I ugly?" The timid voice asked as slowly, a purple pony's head poked out from under the desk she was working at, with a shaggy green and purple mane and a small set of white horns.

_But… Damn! It was COLD! He shivered and took a deep breath. He was cold-blooded. Couldn't this kill him or something? Cold, and dark…_

"Gem!" The unicorn gasped in shock. "You most certainly are NOT!" She reached forward with her white hooves, picking up the creature, with odd reptilian wings stretching from its back, and large, green eyes.

_He took a deep breath, exhaling sharply, and small sparks flew on his breath, searching for some kind of home to lay to rest and prosper in. The dank area was briefly lit. The image of a slender purple and green reptilian creature flashed for a moment, and then faded immediately. _

"The kids at school say so. Miss Heartcheer says otherwise, and so do Mommy and Daddy, but… But I think I'm ugly! I'm not a pony. What am I?" The colt's voice dropped from entirely miserable to interrogating. Sweetie Belle was at a loss for words.

_Wood… Wood. He breathed again, lighting up the icy cave and the large stash of gold and jewels glimmering again as he sighted a stockpile in the corner. He sighed in relief. So he _had _saved up for the remainder of winter. Good._

Gem snorted. "I thought so. You don't know or care, do you? I _am_ ugly!" He suddenly stared at the pony with disdain. "You were lying to me."

_ He shuffled awkwardly to the corner. He could feel the burning fire in his chest slowly going out. Hurry… Hurry…_

"And so was Miss Heartcheer, and Mommy, and Daddy!" Suddenly, his eyes filled with tears. Sweetie Belle stopped him just as he was about to run upstairs. "Gem." She said flatly, staring at him plainly and cocking one of her eyebrows.

_As soon as he was in a close enough range, he breathed a huge plume of green fire to the stack of wood, immediately illuminating the huge hoard in the massive cave, along with the beast inside of it, whom had been evidently living in the cavern._

"Your parents and I-" Sweetie Belle choked for a minute. "C-can I tell you a story?" She murmured suddenly, slowly walking over to the hybrid.  
>"A story about what?" Gem asked, the suspicion in his voice hanging deadly in the air.<br>"A dragon and a pony that loved each other very much."

_In the green light, the large wings protruding from the creature's back was plain. A wingspan of three or four meters, easily. The dragon himself was snakelike, lithe and oddly lanky, though he walked on his forelegs he was more like a snake with legs and wings than anything else. A pair of pearly white fangs protruded from the front of his mouth. He was predominantly purple, with a light green underbelly and darker green spines, the same colour as the undersides of his wings._

"Was he any trouble, Sweetie Belle?" A white unicorn with elegantly an elegantly curled, dark purple mane trotted into the boutique, with a slightly larger, serpentine dragon in tow.

_He shivered, sighing next to the fire and curling his long body around it. So much better. He could get back to his sleep… He'd only been asleep a year or two. Maybe a hundred more would do it. Spike snorted, a plume of smoke escaping his nostrils._

"Of course not." Sweetie Belle smiled. "He's very sweet, actually, Rarity. You did a good job." The two sisters briefly embraced while Spike walked upstairs, his claws clacking on the hardwood of the boutique's flooring.

_Stupid Rarity. Stupid, stupid, stupid Rarity. Did she know he hated her? Hah. He bet she did. He briefly wondered if Twilight was still running around with that other crazy stallion. Ever since Blueblood came to Ponyville looking for her she decided he was SO great. _

Spike slowly opened the door to the colt's room, peeking in to see the pony-dragon hybrid sound asleep. He smiled to himself. Okay. Good. He shut the door again and came back down to see Rarity sighing, sitting at the table with a mug of tea in her hooves, idly sipping as she stared blankly at the table. His brow furrowed.

_He was flitting in and out of consciousness, thoughts floating by of their own accord. Gold, gems, Ponyville, Twilight, Rarity… Rarity… RARITY. Rarity… Murmuring his name quietly. Ahh. Spike, yes. Yeah, that was his name. Spike. Don't wear it out._

"Something wrong, Rarity?"  
>"Hm?"<br>"You seem… distant."  
>"Oh. No, it's just… I'm a bit worried about Gem. I suppose, in retrospect, being a hybrid does look a little odd. He's being, err, teased, at school."<br>"… Shouldn't the teacher be doing something about that, then?"  
>"She's trying. It's no better than it was with Sweetie Belle and her friends, though. As a matter of fact, it's worse. A lot worse, from what I've heard…"<p>

_"Spike... Spiiike… Spike! SPIKE! SPIIIIIIIKE!"  
>The voice he had thought was in the back of his head suddenly jolted him awake. He slowly opened his eyes, smacking his lips. How long had it been? He looked around for the source of the noise, before his eyes fell on a purple and white pony.<br>"HAH!" His now deep voice echoed through the cavern as he exhaled steam on the pony. "And what do you want?" His rumbling chuckle reverberated the entire area.  
>"I just… I… I wanted to apologize. I may have been wrong in my actions, and I wanted to ask you to come back."<br>"What? Did that Blueblood guy treat you like crap?"  
>Rarity visibly bit her lip, pausing and shifting on her hooves. "Well, not exactly. I… I turned him down." She stared awkwardly down at the rocky floor.<em>

Spike's brow suddenly rose. "How much worse?"  
>Rarity stared blankly down at her tea. "Bad. She thinks he may be pretty depressed. He eats lunch and plays by himself." She sighed. "It makes me think about when I was a filly. There was a weird boy in my class, and we were always so mean to him. Horrible, in fact. To think that he was someone's… son. That he was someone's child."<br>Spike watched her in silence; she spoke almost as though her chest was constricted. In tight, short breaths and bursts of words, as opposed to Rarity's general speech pattern of long, lissome babbling.  
>"You know, I didn't even know ponies and dragons could have children." Rarity murmured mournfully.<br>Spike blinked. "Yeah… I didn't either." Spike sighed. "Twilight said she'd never heard of it. It was new, I guess. Never in recorded history has it happened. We should make the most of it, I suppose." He sighed sadly, glancing to the side to avoid eye contact with the fashionista pony.

_"What?" Spike's voice reverberated loudly. He inhaled sharply, releasing a sizable amount of smoke upon exhalation.  
>"… I never loved him. Never, really. Sure, I wanted to be treated like a princess. I just didn't get that with him, and in retrospect, I realised that you were the… you were the one who would treat me like a princess.<br>Spike could only stare in shock, his large maw gaping open to reveal a huge set of perfectly positioned, sharpened fangs. "You turned down… a… P-prince… for me? You ch-chose me?" He felt his own smoke clogging his throat, then he inhaled sharply. "You're lying." He scowled._

"But… What should we do?" Rarity's frown deepened as she only glanced up at Spike, raising an eyebrow before taking a sip of her tea. Her makeup from their night out was now smeared, but Spike found her beautiful nonetheless.  
>Spike hesitated. He had heard of things like psychiatrists back in Canterlot, as a child with Twilight Sparkle, but of none such thing here, in Manehattan. Was there anything he even <em>could <em>do? _  
><em>Rarity interrupted his train of thought with a half mournful, half thoughtful suggestion. "Well." She sighed, looking around her at the boutique. "We could always… Go back."  
>Spike stared at her. "Go back?" He raised an eyebrow. "Go back where?"<br>"Ponyville. I heard Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack are still there, Fluttershy is living in the Everfree forest. Cheerilee still works at the school; she knows how to handle these thi-"  
>"Rarity." Spike stopped her, his tone void of any kind of emotion. "… Do you not… like it? Living here? Manehattan?"<br>Rarity bit her lip. "I… It's certainly bigger. I just… I fear I haven't been doing as well as I could be. There's so much competition, and most ponies here won't associate with me. I'm, uh, 'country folk', I suppose."  
>Spike stared. "But… Your book club and all that?"<br>Rarity sighed somberly in response, brushing purple curls behind her ear. "To tell you the truth, I miss Ponyville. I thought I'd be happy here, Spike. I really did. But… Maybe it's not too late to patch things between us. Between the Elements of Harmony. I know that Twilight is still in Canterlot, and Dash is in Cloudsdale, and I know they're happy and I've accepted that. And Fluttershy lives quite a bit outside of Ponyville now, with Big Mac, but I…" Rarity suddenly choked. "I miss them, Spike."  
>Spike felt his heart clench as he walked over to Rarity, resting his scaly head on top of hers. "Rarity, anything for you. I… I love you." He sighed. "I hate it here, too." He started laughing. "The food portions are so small."<br>Rarity smirked slightly. "Heh, I suppose you're right." She glanced up at Spike with her watery eyes, now drying, and chuckled, "Heh, it's like they're trying to feed Opal instead of ponies… or dragons."  
>Spike smiled sadly. "Hah, people are used to me in Ponyville. I just get weird looks here."<br>A long silence passed.  
>"It's not us, you know." Rarity said passively as she began to regain her composure. "We did fine. We're just new at this. No one wrote a manual on how to raise a foal, let alone a hybrid."<br>"I wonder if Pinkie Pie and Discord decided to… you know." Spike mused.  
>"I doubt it," Rarity sighed. "Unless Pinkie's matured a great bit."<br>"Yeah. Doubtful."

_"I swear to you, Spike, I most certainly am not!" The unicorn looked stressed, staring at him. "I know that… Well, I know that I made some mistakes and such but it can be fixed, can it not!"  
>Spike chuckled hoarsely. "It really can't be. Twilight's gone. You're gone. You think you're so available that you can just waltz into MY territory, asking forgiveness!" His voice began to rumble violently.<br>Rarity stood stock-still, unsure of how to react. Slowly, her jaw began to work and she quietly murmured, "I'm sorry."  
>"You should be." Spike's booming chuckle echoed once again. "You really should be. Now, do me a favour, and go back to stupid little Ponyville and your dumb boutique. Leave me alone!" Suddenly, without realizing, his voice had become a loud roar. He paused for a moment, suddenly realizing that he was shaking.<br>"Spike, can't we reason this out? I never meant to hurt you." Rarity paused, facing towards the exit but taking one last glance back at Spike.  
>"I know." Spike muttered. "I never understood why you liked him so much anyway. He treated you like crap."<br>"… Yeah." Rarity mumbled, the melancholy hanging thick in the air. She flopped down on her haunches, staring at Spike. His massive size was simply proportional to his hoard, also gargantuan.  
>"I'd treat you like a princess, you know," Spike sighed, curling himself around the fire once again. "And not like a piece of trash."<br>"Yes." Rarity mumbled. "I do know, Spike." She slowly glanced up at him, shifting nervously and examining his large, protruding fangs, razor-like spines, and glimmering purple scales.  
>A long, awkward silence passed as Spike settled around the fire, glad to be warm, finally.<br>"Spike?" Rarity uttered, near-silently.  
>"Yeah, Rarity?"<br>"Come back to Ponyville."  
>"Why? What reason could I possibly have for going back there?" Spike snorted once again, staring angrily down at the ground and pawing at a small rock with his talons.<br>"We miss you. People wonder where you are. Blueblood is gone, Spike. Yeah, he was pathetic and stupid and I have NO CLUE why he'd show up and suddenly ask for me to come with him, to Canterlot, but… Spike, I'm lonely. Pinkie and Discord are happy, which, admittedly, makes me relatively uncomfortable, and maybe it's really weird, but if a draconequus and a pony can be happy, I know a dragon and a pony can be happy, okay?"  
>"… Did you honestly just compare me to the god of chaos?"<br>"… Somewhat, I suppose. Yes."  
>Another long period of silence passed with Spike just staring at Rarity, frowning. Finally, he spoke: "I don't want to go back to Ponyville."<br>Rarity stared at him. "I'm sorry I bothered you." She susurrated, standing up slowly, but walking stiffly and lifelessly, like a puppet.  
>"Wait." Spike paused. "I never said I didn't want to be with you. Rarity, I love you. I have ever since I first saw you, but I don't think I can go back there. Not anymore. All it will do is remind me of how much I miss Twilight. She's like my sister. That's all I'll be able to think about. Of course, I want to be with you. You have no freaking clue how much I used to wait up here, every day, hoping that one day I'd see you again," The great dragon rumbled. "But…"<br>Rarity leaned in. "But?"  
>"But I can't go back to Ponyville."<br>Rarity paused, thoughtful for a moment. She sighed, finally, looking up at Spike. "Manehattan. Let's go to Manehattan. No one we know is there, save for a few of Apple Jack's relatives. We never met them. We'll be alone."_

"… So. We're really doing this, then?" Spike asked quietly, his voice hushed though the conversation wasn't secret, and there wasn't anyone to listen anyway. "Moving back to Ponyville?"  
>Rarity sighed. "I think it'd be best for Gem. I think Cheerilee would do a good job, and a lot of the foal's parents grew up with you around anyway. It's small. Here, it's just… I'd imagine it's ruthless. This has been persistent enough."<br>Spike nodded slowly. "Alright." He smiled weakly. Though the idea disturbed him slightly, he closed his eyes. This was for Rarity. Rarity, and Gem. A small smile graced his lips. He opened his eyes to see Rarity staring back at him with her watery blue eyes.  
>"Spike? Rarity gazed at him for a moment.<br>"Yes?"  
>"I love you."<br>"I love you, too, Rarity." Spike sighed, smiling.  
>Yeah.<br>He could do this.


	4. Chapter Four: Fear

**The Elements of Turmoil  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 4: Fear  
>(http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_Chavonne/Clockwork(dot)png)**

_"Ahh! Who the bloody hell are you!"____  
>"Who the hell are YOU! What are you doing in my house?"<br>The two ponies stared at each other for a long time,_tension thick in the air. _One mare, one stallion. The stallion, a sandy brown colour, shifted on his hooves. "Uh. I'm the Doctor."  
>"What is THAT thing! You're not a doctor!"<br>"Oh. Uh, this? It's the Harnis. And you're right. I'm not. I'm THE Doctor, thank you very much. And who are YOU?"  
>"Who are YOU? This is MY home!" The mare stamped a purple hoof indignantly. "SPIIIIIIIIIIKE!" She called, glancing over her shoulder for whoever she had evidently called for.<br>"I told you! I'm The Doctor! And this is the HARNIS! The Here and Relative Nowness in Space! H-A-R-N-I-S! Harnis!" The Earth Pony sighed. "I suppose you could say that I'm, uh, Doctor Whooves? But just call me the Doctor."  
>"I'm not calling you anything!"<br>"I suppose that's alright, too. Who are you, by chance?"  
>"I'm Twilight Sparkle! Now why in Equestria are you in my house!"<br>"Isn't this the library?" The Doctor began to trot through the area, glancing around passively, as if browsing books, and acting as though he hadn't just appeared in a public police barn stall, materializing in Twilight's library.  
>"Yes! But… Why are you here? And why did you just… appear? In this… Harnis thing!"<br>The Doctor glanced over at Twilight, musing for a moment. "Hm." He yawned, pulling out what looked like a small pole with an LED on the top of it. The Doctor's gaze passed over it for a moment. He pondered it for a moment longer before putting it back, shrugging and shaking his head.  
>Spike hopped down the stairs while Twilight only stared at this Doctor guy. "Uh. Who's he?" Spike asked, staring at the earth pony.<br>Twilight didn't take her gaze away. "Uh. He's the Doctor, I guess?"_

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"  
>"Come on! Would you doubt me?" Twilight grinned nervously, feeling her hooves shift underneath her.<br>_'Sort of, yeah.' _He thought with a sigh, focusing his magic to the book on the table. A visible stream of purple magic shot from his horn as it encompassed the book in a shimmering, waving extra appendage. The colt took a deep breath as the book shuddered and lifted an inch off of the table that sat before them.  
><em>'Come on, come on… So close!' <em>He was gasping for breath now as the book rose. Two inches. Three. Four. Five!  
>His focus broke for half a second, and the book clamoured to the ground.<br>Twilight Sparkle sighed, looking at the tile.  
>"Sorry…" He mumbled uncomfortably, shifting on his feet.<br>Twilight walked slowly over to a photo sitting on a bookshelf of her and a brown stallion standing outside a police barn stall, with her looking terrified and standing behind him. She picked up the duster in her mouth and dusted off the photo, looking distant. "It's not your fault, Clockwork." She turned around and smiled at him. "Some ponies are better at magic than others, and if you really want to work with magic, sometimes you just have to practice. You know I'm not making you, right?"  
>"Heh. Yeah." Clockwork shifted on his hooves for a moment. "I know, Mom."<br>A long silence passed before Clockwork looked up. "So," He began, shifting on his hooves and trying to take his focus off the picture. He got off the couch and looked up at Twilight to see her smiling sadly at him.  
>"He did love you, you know." Twilight breathed quietly, staring at her hooves. "They don't tell you how to be a single mother in books, you know."<br>Clockwork blinked at her. "Oh." He shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah. I know."  
>Twilight looked over and smiled rather weakly.<p>

_.  
>Whooves. His coat. It smelled like… The beach.<br>Twilight was barely aware of the intense pounding in her chest. She'd never quite thought about the possibilities of going to the top of the tallest building in Fillydelphia with him. She examined the wide expanse of street and concrete buildings stretching out before her.  
>"Been up here thousands of times." Whooves shrugged, jokingly shoving her off of him. "Why haven't you? Aren't you Celestia's most faithful student?"<br>Twilight shrugged. "I suppose." She mumbled. None of it mattered, of course. Since when was the sky so big? An immediate compulsion to map it out during the sunset overtook her. There was Gemini! And Orion… She moved to pull out a scroll and a quill when she looked up, Noticing Whooves had an eyebrow cocked at her, an amused smirk dancing on his lips.  
>"Oi, what's that about?" He sat down next to her, pressing into her side and staring at the blank scroll. What were you intending to draw?"<br>"I-I, uh…" Twilight suddenly trailed off, staring into his eyes. Ah. His eyes. His blue, blue eyes…  
>At least seven seconds passed, the Doctor wearing a satisfied smirk. "You were saying?"<br>His accent, his voice. She stared at the orange and pink lights reflected from the sunset dancing in his eyes. "O-oh. I was… writing a letter. To, uh. Princess Celestia?"  
>"Oh, REALLY?" Another smirk played on his lips. "Would it, perhaps, have anything to do with how you're sitting here on the tallest skyscraper built by earthbound ponies in Equestria, with the most HANDSOME pony in all of Equestria?" Whooves fluffed out his chest, cocking an eyebrow at her, and she chuckled, picking up the scroll and writing with her magic and a quill, reading aloud as she wrote.<br>"Dear Princess Celestia,  
>I'm stuck up here with a pony who I'm relatively sure has an extra chromosome, a-"<br>"OIII!" Whooves interrupted, snatching the scroll from her in his mouth. "Give me that." He took the quill as well and crossed out what Twilight had written, save for her addressing the Princess.  
>He coughed dramatically. "NOW, I shall write a correct letter!"<br>"Dear Princess Celestia," He began, stopping for a moment to think, and then a devious grin flashed across his face.  
>"I can't recall the last time I took a shower, I kind of smell, an-"<br>"Give it back!" Twilight snatched it back, chuckling, before her giggles turned into an uproarious laugh, and Whooves stared at her, snorting at her. Finally, Twilight took a deep breath and tried to relax her aching stomach muscles, but the occasional snicker escaped her, sending a shock of ache through the entirety of her body. She glanced back over at him; he was just lying back, staring up at the sky, now nearly entirely dark.  
>"You know, I feel… sort of bad." Twilight sighed, thinking of Pinkie and Discord, wondering if she now understood why they felt the way they did about each other.<br>"Why is that?" The Doctor turned his head to look at her, as they were both lying on their backs. "I guess I was sort of judgmental about this whole… Uhm." Suddenly, Twilight became very bright red. "Never mind." She paused and smiled.  
>Suddenly, his tone grew dead serious. "Twilight Sparkle."<em>

"Clockwork! I'm home!" Twilight called out into the house, but her voice echoed deadly through the structure, rather than being muffled by the wood and various books as it had been in the library in Ponyville.  
>The unicorn colt tentatively came down the stairs with a pencil in his ear. "Hey, Mom."<br>"Hey. Help me with the groceries." Twilight grumbled, fumbling with the bags and putting things away using her magic.  
>Clockwork began to passively make an attempt in engaging in conversation. "So, I'm reading this book on time travel and I-"<br>He was interrupted by a large can of soup clattering to the ground as Twilight stiffened suddenly. She looked over her shoulder and paused. "Ah. Sorry." She giggled nervously, partially to herself, as Clockwork stood there, dumbfounded, before going off to get a mop.  
>"Are you… okay?"<br>"Fine, fine!" Twilight's expression was slightly twisted and Clockwork paused nervously. "Ah; If you… say so?" He mumbled, sighing to himself and mopping up the soup, picking up the demolished can. "Please be more careful." He mumbled. "Do you need to lie down?" He cocked his head at the lavender-coloured pony.  
>"Y-yeah… I should."<p>

_Maybe she should apologize to Pinkie and uh… What was his name? Discord. Discord.  
>He was just on top of her, forelegs wrapped around her back, their lips mashed together in some kind of mad frenzy. He smelled so nice. His brown mane carried the familiar smell of beach sand and crystal clear water. She wondered why that was. She couldn't exactly think coherently.<br>"Ohh… Equestria." She moaned as she gasped for breath and Whooves gazed back at her, smirking to himself. "Not right now." He gently put his hoof to her mouth and gestured around him. He was right.  
>They were in some kind of desert oasis, with moons and other planets rising extremely close to the horizon, taking up at least a quarter of the sky. Each of the stars was plainly visible, but it was somehow light as day, the golden sands around them soft, but they didn't give and crumble all over her mane. Somehow, it had been polished by the gentle breezes that made it the perfect temperature, perhaps caused by the evaporation of the small pool of clear water next to them. Several subspecies of palm trees Twilight had never seen before were growing out from around the shoreline.<br>"This is crazy. I'm dreaming, right? Discord's messing with me or someth-"  
>He moaned something nugatory while he drew her back into kissing him passionately, her head rising off of the caked layer of sand to meet him desperately as she hooked her forelegs around his back.<br>Suddenly, Discord could screw with her until he worked his little chaotic heart out.  
>"We should get back to the Harnis soon…" She murmured.<br>He didn't respond, trailing kisses down to her neck.  
>"Aahhh- or, or that!"<em>

"Clockwork." Twilight mumbled quietly several days later, staring at her book without looking up, though it was clear her eyes were not focused on her book, she was staring at nothing; into oblivion.  
>"Yeah?" He looked up from his school studies, raising an eyebrow.<br>"… What would you think… about moving to Ponyville?"  
>"PONYVILLE?" Clockwork's expression contorted. "Good Celestia of Equestria! Why would we ever move to Ponyville! I thought you liked Canterlot!"<br>Twilight sighed, glancing back at him for the first time in several days, since she had dropped the soup the minute he had mentioned Time Travel.  
>He didn't understand why that was such a sore spot with her. Every time any kind of interdimensional travel or space travel or deserts or Fillydelphia was mentioned, she'd get all silent and freaked out.<br>It probably had something to do with his father, but he didn't dare ask her any questions about _him._ He didn't know if he was just dead, or missing, or whatever, but it seemed like every time some odd thing was mentioned, she'd get all depressed and quiet.  
>It wasn't <em>her <em>that was forced to grow up without a father, now was it? No, it wasn't!  
>Suddenly, Clockwork felt anger boiling in his veins. <em>That BASTARD! <em>Who did he think he was? Did he just up and leave? _'I bet he did…'_ he thought with an angry scowl.  
>It was only when he looked up at Twilight Sparkle that he saw a sad smile forming on her lips. "I got a letter from the mayor, the local librarian passed away and they want me to come back and take over the job again."<br>As indignant as he wanted to act, he needed to get out of this hellhole. He nervously shifted on his hooves and sighed. "I guess that's okay." He smiled weakly. This would make her happy. It would definitely make Twilight happy. Maybe, all she needed was to move back to Ponyville and to see her old friends, and she'd cheer up.  
>Perhaps, she'd even be the cheery mare he constantly saw in photographs with five other ponies or even his father, whatever the guy's name was. Maybe this would finally be it.<br>Twilight smiled, her eyes suddenly lighting up. "Really? Okay! I'll move all of the books around and… and… And I'll see who's still living back in Ponyville and we'll arrange a big get-together, okay? I think Pinkie Pie is still living there, with…" She suddenly scowled. "No one in particular." Venom dripped from her voice, and Clockwork jumped. He had never, in the time he had known the mare, (His entire life, mind you.) heard her speak with such malice before.  
>Her expression did fade gradually as she paused and smiled feebly. "Don't worry about it, I just, uh, have a history with the… erhm. Person she fell in love with. But- oh! You'll get to meet Spike!" Suddenly, Twilight's eyes lit up. "Oh, you'll love Spike! If he's anything like I remember him…"<br>"Wait, you mean Uncle Spike? The dragon?"  
>"Yes!" Twilight grinned, her eyes gleamed. "Heh, he could tell you some pretty <em>wild<em> stories." She reminisced. "Oh, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash… Oh, Fluttershy, too!" Twilight was still grinning excitedly as she trotted off to her room upstairs. "Start packing, Clockwork!~"

_ The couch. Spike was out for the night. Said he'd be gone for a while. The Doctor was on top of her again, as they had been back on the oasis planet. There was no noise, but his heartbeat and their occasional sighs and gasps for breath as their lips mashed together.  
>Finally, Twilight pulled away. "Whooves?" She gasped.<br>"Yes?" He inhaled sharply as he spoke.  
>"I love you." She murmured before striking again, pushing their mouths together, but something was lost. He pulled away after a shorter amount of time. His muscles were tense, and he sat up, staring at the floor suddenly. He bit his lip.<br>Twilight stared at him. That certainly wasn't normal. Had she done something wrong? Had she… Had she perhaps become so accustomed to him that she had done something stupid? Oh, no… But… This was her fault. She should have just done what she knew how to do correctly, let him kiss her on the cheek or something. Nothing… Like they'd been doing. Spike had almost caught them the other day.  
>She felt her face go red as her thoughts trailed off, but she shook them off.<br>"Wh… what's wrong?" She asked softly, pushing herself to her haunches so they were both sitting upright.  
>Whooves sighed. "Twilight. I… I love you, too." He stared back at her; his bright blue eyes were now moist and rigged slightly red. When had this happened? That was good, wasn't it? He loved her back? Right? That's what that damn draconequus always said to Pinkie, right? (Of course, whether he was lying was another matter entirely. She understood it slightly better now, but still held little more than bitter resentment for the chimera.)<br>He took another breath, and time seemed to stop. _'Please don't say 'but,'...' _was all Twilight could think as she watched him slowly form the horrendous word. "But,"  
>Twilight opened her mouth to immediately interrupt his train of thought. Something, anything.<br>The Doctor paused, gently putting a hoof to her lips. "Wait, okay? I've known this is something I've needed to say. I've felt horrible about it for the past few weeks now, and I think it's about time I said this, or I think it's going to tear me apart."  
>Twilight felt her eyes begin to water. "No…" Her mouth fell open.<br>"Hang on!" The Doctor insisted, looking at her and sighing. He slowly pulled out the strange pole with the LED light she had seen him holding the first time they had met. "So…" He held it in his hoof, quivering. "This is…" He coughed as if he had been choking. "This is a sonic screwdriver."  
>Twilight suddenly jumped back. "N-no… I've read a-about those. No! That's something Time Ponies have, right? N-no…" She scrambled backwards against the couch, her eyes suddenly red and tearful.<br>Whooves tensed up, staring at her desperately. "There's nothing I can do. You know too much, you've travelled in the Harnis, and you can't be my Companion because of your relations to the Princess and your duties to her." He suddenly shivered. "Twilight, I'm so very sorry."  
>Twilight clenched her eyes shut. "No! I won't let you!"<br>Whooves paused. "Twilight, I have to leave, you don't understand. I have… I have duties! I don't want… I want you to be happy, okay?" He took a shakey breath. "And I want you to find a nice stallion who will be with you always, not like I will. I want you to find someone who… who makes you laugh and makes you happy who you love."  
>"… But… You're that stallion." Twilight murmured, a large tear rolling down her cheek. "YOU make me happy, and you make me laugh, and… and… No one's ever… made me so comfortable. And I love YOU." She finished that last line with over exuberant confidence.<br>"I'm very sorry, Twilight." The Doctor leaned forward, kissing her, before planting the sonic screwdriver in front of her face and wincing, clenching his eyes shut.  
>Twilight let out a horrible, ear-piercing, blood-curdling wail, and Doctor Whooves stopped, staring at her, and throwing it down, mashing their mouths together passionately, while Twilight sat in shock, tears still running down her face, flowing freely now as a single constant stream, as opposed to individual tears.<br>He sat there with her, his forelegs around her as a single tear went down his cheek.  
>Suddenly, he took a sharp intake a breath. "Y-you know what? I'm going to fix this. I'll fix it right now." He steadied his shaking breathing, picking up the sonic screwdriver and walking over to the Harnis, it hadn't left its position in the current Equestrian dimension since he had somehow ended up in the library.<br>"Uh, Twilight." He walked inside. "Listen, I'll be back in five minutes, okay?" He smiled, moving forward and kissing her before disappearing into the Harnis.  
>Once he was gone, she managed to illicit a quiet, trembling, "O-okay."<br>She waited five minutes. Then ten. Twenty. An hour. Two hours. Five hours. Eight. A day. Two. Five. A week. Two weeks. A month. A year.  
>He never returned.<br>Of all the things that could have happened that could have led to the circumstances she was in now, this particular situation would have never even crossed her mind. He'd be back in five minutes. Then he just… was gone. No goodbyes, no sorries, just that he'd be back. But he wasn't. He had disappeared into thin air. Nopony seemed to remember him except those who knew Twilight, as he was oft so antisocial.  
>Sure, he'd go to things like the gala and the summer solstice. He'd always just… oddly stay in the background. Twilight never saw him again after that, nor did anypony else.<br>She had her speculations. He had skipped town. Disappeared off to Manehattan, or Fillydelphia, or Canterlot or maybe he'd gone to some other alternate universe like the ones he so liked to show her.  
>She didn't know. But he was gone. Her stomach dropped every time somepony mentioned it. Or him. She still held the smallest amount of hope. Every morning she'd wake up with the tiniest amount of belief in her heart that perhaps… Maybe, just maybe, he'd come back today.<br>_  
>Clockwork nervously shifted back and forth on his hooves in the carriage that the pegasi were controlling. His heart jumped into his throat when he looked down to see just how high they were above the ground. He had always been aware that Canterlot rested on a cliff, but this was to an outrageous extent.<br>"Hahh." Twilight sighed, relaxing more than he ever thought she had seen her relax. "I remember the first time I made this trip." She grinned like an idiot, and Clockwork stared.  
>"Are you kidding? I'm terrified." He gulped, glancing over the side again before coming to the conclusion that he should simply stare blankly at his hooves.<br>"Don't worry, this is perfectly safe!" Twilight Sparkle insisted, jumping up and down in the carriage, making it rock. The guard pegasi didn't even glance back, and Clockwork's eyes bulged out of his head. "Holy Celestia…" He groaned to himself, staring back at Twilight.

_Everyone suggested she find a new boyfriend. They all were convinced he just skipped out on her in the night, as that was the story she had insisted upon them, not wanting to speak of the Harnis or any of its capabilities. She would just sigh longingly and stare at the closest window, or the floor, or the ground, or the sky. Whatever was really available.  
>She never did find somepony else. All of her friends went off and got together with other ponies, (or draconequuses.) to be with, though there was no reason for Twilight.<br>As luck would have it, she had a foal.  
>Who looked almost identical to him.<br>She loved him. She did. She taught him everything she could. Anything and everything she knew about the alicorns, magic, Equestrian history… All of it. He was very intelligent and could read and write from a young age. By the time he was four years old, he was reading Antipone, by Clopocles, and the rest of the Thebarn Plays.  
>He made her happy. Yes, he made her very, very, and outrageously happy. Twilight loved Clockwork. He was her foal.<br>She understood, however, that it would be difficult to raise a colt without a father. She had to accept that Whooves was she never going to come back. Either he had left her or died or forgot about her, but he wasn't coming back. She'd waited long enough.  
>He grew to be intelligent. She had no doubt of that, he was incredibly intelligent. His unicorn powers were far below average, but it didn't exactly concern her. She didn't care. She'd seen far worse.<em>

They landed in Ponyville. By this time, Twilight was full-on smiling. She took their suitcases, only around three, as Twilight had left all of her books, claiming there would be far more at the library. Clockwork doubted this, only responding with a skeptical glance, but Twilight had just smirked.  
>"Oooookayyy." She had chuckled before bounding away to leave Clockwork with his book.<br>"Come on!" She finally looked over her shoulder and called to him several feet away. "Come on!" She made a face at him, chuckling.

_Still, in a sense, she still kind of waited for him. Every day, still the smallest amount of hope. It never quite left. She saw him in the corner of her eye. Sometimes, she thought she might simply be hearing things, but she could swear she heard his voice, accent and all.  
>She dreamed about him. Every night, almost. There would be a knock at the door, she'd sit up, and Spike would have answered it to reveal him standing there. Of course, every time, she would wake up not long after, sweaty and with her eyes teary. Not in Ponyville. Not in the library.<br>In some dumpy, whitewashed apartment in Canterlot._

Upon examining his surroundings, Clockwork glanced around. An apple stand, run by a humongous red pony and a small orange filly with a blonde mane, braided and in a bow, with her tail in a ponytail, wearing old leather workboots and a cowboy hat. She had her front, right leg bandaged tightly in a splint.  
>Twilight turned, seeing the large red stallion and gasped. "Big Mac!" She cried out, galloping over at full speed.<br>Big Mac's eyes grew large as he stared in shock. "Miss Twilight! Howdy! Ah thought Ah'd never see you again since you left for Canterlot. Applejack's been worried 'bout'cha!"  
>Applejack? The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.<br>Twilight smiled widely. "Well, I've come back since the librarian left." She glanced down at the filly, and her eyes grew wide. "MacIntosh!"  
>The filly galloped in front of Twilight, dramatically clearing her throat. "Hello there, fellow Ponyville andor Everfree Forest citizen. Could I interest you in buying an apple this fine day?"  
>Twiligth stared at Big Mac, then smirked. "And what's your name, miss?"<br>"Applecore! Ah'm gonna be famous!"  
>"Who's the lucky lady, Mac?" Twilight pried, cocking an eyebrow at the stallion.<br>"Oh. Ya mean my mom? Fluttershy!" The filly, Applecore, interrupted.  
>Twilight stared. "Fluttershy?" She looked down at the foal, then at Big Mac, and smirked. "Well, well."<br>Big Mac turned a slightly darker shade of red. "Now, uh, Applecore, you mind yerself."  
>"Eeyup."<br>Big Mac nodded to her as she went to the back to sell more apples to people, and stared back at Clockwork, who suddenly was unable to move as Twilight beckoned him over.  
>"Mac, this is my son. Clockwork, this is Mister Apple."<br>"Mac is fine, but thank ya', Miss Twilight."  
>"Uh… Hello… Mr… uh, MacIntosh?"<p>

_ She was still waiting._

_**~XXX~  
>inb4 RadaVonVon knows nothing about Dr. Who.<br>I've only seen enough to have basic knowledge, ( I did just pretty much create a 'The Filly Who Waited' situation on purpose, though.) and Doctor Whooves is NOT the tenth doctor, as similar as they may be. I'm going to be writing them as separate characters, so they may not be exactly alike. Just a warning for you purists. I did purposely change the Tardis to the Harnis, for punny-ness.  
>Also, if you're reading this on , I am cross-posting this from , a site that I like much better, though I wanted to stay true to my origins by posting on . My username on FanFiction is ListenstoGreenDay, however on FiMfiction, it's RadaVonVon. So that may put your minds at ease.<br>-RadaVonVon**_


	5. Chapter Five: Ambition

**The Elements of Turmoil  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chaper 5: Ambition  
>( http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_Chavonne/SirPrize-1(dot)png**

"Hey, Blue? Do me a favour, will ya?" Applejack glanced over her shoulder to the blue-grey pony standing behind her, taking a tedious and cautionary bite into some expensive-looking pastry.  
>"Hmm?" He slowly walked over, glancing over the orange farmpony's shoulder at the business ledger she had in front of her. His eyes scanned over it. "Are we having issues with Gala farm?" He mumbled to himself.<br>"'Course not!" Applejack stared back at him in shock. "Mac'd never pull a fast one. Seventy five, twenty five depending' on who's selling. That's how it works." Applejack firmly stamped a hoof on her desk.  
>"Then what do you need help with, love?" The stallion asked slowly, raising an eyebrow at her.<br>Applejack stared blankly back at him. "Do this fancy schmancy Canterlot math!" She got up from her chair. "Ya got a good education, didn'tcha?"  
>Blueblood suppressed a chuckle. "I suppose I did." He murmured articulately.<br>"Ah got some trees 'ta buck anyway." She shrugged it off as she put on her hat.  
>"Alright." Blueblood grumbled, now almost entirely engrossed in the business ledger.<p>

_Well. What was he going to do now?  
>Prince Blueblood sat, dejected, on the doormat of Carousel Boutique, watching the mare he had realised was the love of his life, run away from him.<br>For a DRAGON. He scowled. A dragon. A scaled, winged lizard-beast. Since when was a dragon even slightly more capable than he was? She had just stood there, stammering like a fool in front of him, before sighing and admitting she had to leave, before dashing off, talking about dragons and a mountain. Blueblood frowned, sitting on his hooves as the rain pelted down, soaking his mane and his wondrous light blue-grey coat.  
>He slowly brought himself to his hooves after what seemed like hours. He had apologized! He'd done everything right that his friend, who happened to be a mare, told him to do. Of course, she said it may not work and some people are just stubborn, but…<br>The white mare was now no longer anywhere to be found. He frowned. What now? He tried to come up with something he could do. He'd never been… rejected! No mare had ever turned him down. Even supermodel mares like Fleur had a fling with him in the past. He shifted on his feet nervously. What was he going to do now?  
>He began to mope quietly walking through the rain and allowing his mane to become soaked and tangled, no longer worrying. He had no one to impress.<em>

"Excuse me, sir! Sweet Apple Acres is having a sale today, can I interest you in our daily deal of a dozen for half off?"  
>"Uh, Prize, please, uhm, calm down, okay?" Fluttershy murmured in distress. "I just had to tell Applejack something…" She squeaked out, turning bright red and tucking her face into her chest.<br>"Sir Prize, calm down." Applejack admonished sternly before glancing up at Fluttershy. "What is it, sugarcube?"  
>"Uh, well, MacIntosh came back the other night with Apple Core and apparently they, uhm, met someone."<br>"Oh, now? Who was it?" Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow at Fluttershy. "Someone Ah know?" Though Fluttershy's visits were rare and she generally stayed home, Applejack could count on seeing her in the middle of town once or twice a month just to exchange some words, as if she was trying to revive a dead friendship or pretend like they hadn't drifted apart long ago.  
>"Uhm, yes." Fluttershy dropped the end of her sentence. "Since the librarian left, Twilight came ba-"<br>"WHAT?" Applejack had been eating a green apple at the time, promptly spitting out and spewing particles of peel and apple all over the ground, the cart, Fluttershy, and Sir Prize, who made a disgusted face, sighed, and began to wipe off his hat.  
>Many of the potential customers were now giving her the same perturbed face, and Applejack sighed, giving up. They had already sold quite a stock already. She began to pack up. "I thought Twilight left for Canterlot."<br>"I thought so, too… Uhm, but, she has a son…"  
>Applejack froze. "Twilight?" She turned around. "Has a SON?"<br>"Uhm, yes." Fluttershy shrank back. "His name is, uh, Clockwork. Mac said he was very polite…"  
>"Who did she marry?" Applejack asked, completely befuddled.<br>"She… didn't say. She was alone. They were just moving in, it was just her and a colt."  
>As Fluttershy said this, a young unicorn colt with a brown coat and a purple mane and tail passed by, walking slowly up to the cart. "Uh, hi. Can I buy a pie and a half dozen apples?"<br>Applejack stared at him, scrutinizing. "Ah reckon ya can…" She mumbled, grabbing a bag and the last pie. "Sixteen bits."  
>The foal nodded nervously, his blue eyes searching through a pouch before he used his hooves and set out the bits on what remained of Applejack's cart.<br>Sir Prize leaned over. "You! You're a unicorn, aren't you? Why don't you use your unicorn powers?" He asked, easily picking up the bag and pie that the colt had just purchased with a stream of glimmering blue magic, setting them at his feet without missing a beat.  
>Applejack shot him a cross look, but Prize merely shrugged it off, continuing trying to sell what little remained in the cart. Fluttershy remained silent.<br>"You new 'round these parts, friend?" Applejack asked.  
>"Oh!" The foal had been trying to balance his goods on his back, failing terribly. Applejack had startled him into dropping everything, apples spilling out across the ground, and the pie lay in a defeated, dusty mush and a pie tin. "Uh, yes, actually. I-I'm meeting people, I suppose." He began to desperately chase apples around.<br>"Yeah, Ponyville's pretty small. You'll like it. Ain't you a little young to be livin' all by yer lonesome, though?" Applejack eyed him, he was simply an adolescent pony.

_It took a while before Blueblood could reiterate himself, he had no clue where he was. He had simply been aimlessly wandering through the rain, now completely soaked. He realized he was in the middle of some sort of estate. He glanced around for some kind of sign or indication of where he was.  
>He spotted a large banner sporting, "SWEET APPLE ACRES" on large red letters. It sounded rather familiar. He paused, suddenly remembering the Gala, when he had eaten something that the orange mare had cooked. He had acted as though he found it entirely disgusting, but that was not so. He simply could not embarrass himself in a room full of nobles like that. He paused, glancing around and finding no one. It was late at night. He shivered, spotting a barn. He wouldn't be able to get back to Canterlot in this weather.<br>The thought crossed his mind and he froze, horrified, before sighing. What other choice did he have? He slowly, tentatively, entered the barn, finding it surprisingly dry and warm. He'd probably be interrupted rudely in the morning, but he thought nothing of it. He gathered up a large volume of hay, and, uncaring, flopped down on it. He'd get back to Canterlot in the morning._

"Huh? Oh! I'm not." He paused, seeming thoughtful. "I moved here with my mother, from Canterlot. She lived here several years ago and decided to come back."  
>Applejack and Fluttershy stood there, exchanging glances, entirely dumbfounded.<br>Applejack scratched the back of her neck. "Ah, what's yer ma's name?"  
>"Oh. Twilight Sparkle. I'm, uh-" He chased after a stray apple, picking it up in his mouth and shrugging, biting down and swallowing after chewing it thoughtfully. "Clockwork."<br>Sir Prize stared. "Wait, wait, wait. Twilight Sparkle? As in, THE Twilight Sparkle? The one you guys NEVER shut up about?"  
>Clockwork stared sheepishly at the floor. "Uh. I wasn't aware tha-"<br>"Celestia, what is TAKING so long?"  
>"Speak of the Discord." Applejack gasped, staring as Twilight picked up the bag of apples and what was left of the pie rather easily with her magic, having not seen Fluttershy or Applejack.<br>Applejack's jaw was on the floor. "T-twi?"  
>The unicorn spun around, dumbfounded. "Applejack? Fluttershy?" Suddenly, she took a huge leap, dropping the apples, once again, all over the place and tackling Applejack. "Oh, Equestria, I missed you!"<br>Tears formed in Twilight's eyes and Clockwork sighed, nervously picking up the apples again and calling back, "I'll be in the library."  
>Twilight nodded vigorously in response.<p>

_Prince Blueblood awoke with the orange mare who had been running the stand at the Gala kicking him in the side. "Get up! What are ya doin' on this here property!" She snarled. Blueblood shivered.  
>"I can explain." He mumbled calmly, hints of sadness dotting his voice. "Listen, I just needed a place to stay. Here's some bits." He muttered dejectedly, using his unicorn power to float it over to her. "I'll get out of here, thank you."<br>Applejack stared at him. "Wait, yer that fella that was girlier than Rarity at the gala, weren't ya?"  
>His face went red. "Perhaps. I came to apologize and she ran off, saying something about dragons." He shrugged it off, glancing in the corner.<br>Applejack stared at him. "Really, now?" She smirked. "Interestin'. Well, yer ahr guest, so if you need some time to do some recuperatin', yer welcome ta stay here." She muttered, examining him up and down. Blueblood raised an eyebrow. "Really?"  
>"Well," Applejack muttered, walking outside and glancing up into the grey sky. The air felt thick. "Ah do believe it's gonna snow tonight, ya may not have a choice." She mumbled. "And yer ahr guest, so we'll treat'cha nicely, I s'pose."<em>

"PINKIE!" Twilight called excitedly, poking her head into Sugarcube corner. It was exactly how she remembered! She scanned the area when she saw a draconequus slip out from upstairs, looking melodramatically exasperated.  
>"OH! I've been working SO LONG on these cupcakes!" The object of Twilight's ire groaned, holding out a tray of cookies before they dramatically changed. The walls of the room seemed to melt, warping and changing, to reveal some kind of discordant redesign of the Sugarcube Corner of her memories.<br>Twilight only glared and Discord smirked. "Twilight Sparkle! My, my." He put his face inches from hers. "You're the last pony I'd expect to see in Ponyville!"  
>"Discord." The purple unicorn's ears were flattened behind her head. Suddenly, she wished that she had brought Applejack or Fluttershy. They'd sat down outside, talking for a good hour as she had explained how she moved to Canterlot, though, not disclosing the details of Whooves and the Harnis. She simply said he had had an unfortunate accident. With the occasional obnoxious interruption by Sir Prize, Applejack had finally suggested that she go see Pinkie, as her and Fluttershy had to catch up on business while Applejack packed up.<br>Unfortunately, she had been so caught up, it hadn't occurred to her to ask her friends about their children or their significant others. Sir Prize looked oddly like Blueblood, but she didn't dare mention the name specifically to spare herself from Applejack's potential wrath.  
>"Particularly after the Doctor's…." He trailed off, before smirking and putting a claw beneath her chin. "<em>Unfortunate <em>accident."  
>Twilight stood stock still. "How do you know about that!" She barked, eyes practically bugging out of her head as the colour drained from her face.<br>"Oh, Twilight, Twilight, Twilight. Tut, tut, tut." He chuckled. "I know EVERYTHING." He widened his yellow and red eyes, before relaxing entirely and smirking as Pinkie came up behind him. She let out a huge gasp. "TWILIGHT!" She screamed, diving for Twilight, who gasped in surprise, having been tense and horrified by Discord's previous behavior.  
>"Ohhhmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! You're back, of course you're back! This is crazy! Amazing! Okay, parties, parties! Let's have a party! Three days! Since you're new and all, I mean, not everyone's going to remember you super-duper well! This is just like when you first came to Ponyville! You had so many friends before you moved to Canterlot! Everyone missed you, all you need is a PARTY for everyone to remember how great you are! Ohmygoshohmygosh!" Pinkie rattled.<br>Twilight glanced awkwardly at Discord, who had an unsettling, knowing smirk on his face before he dipped back into the other room he had just been in, now that the house was strange and bent into impossible geometric shapes. "Uh, yeah, Pinkie. Sure." She mumbled, watching the tip of Discord's snake tail disappear in the doorway.

_"WHEEEE! It's snowing!" A small filly, Applejack's sister, ran outside, squealing in glee. Her friends seemed to materialize out of nowhere and dashed off with her, taking Blueblood by surprise.  
>"Yee haw! The pond's frozen over!" Applejack leaped out of the house, looking at Blueblood for a second, scrutinizing him. "There's no way yer getting back ta Canterlot in this weather. Big MacIntosh left his skates here when he moved, ya wanna come with us?" There was a certain tension held in her voice, as if she wasn't quite sure why she was asking.<br>Blueblood blinked, equally confused. "I-ice skating? Isn't that a peasant thi-" He caught a silencing glare from Applejack, who was cocking an eyebrow. "I mean, erm. I'd love to?" He smiled awkwardly.  
>Applejack grinned subtly before chucking a pair of skates at him and picking up a pair of significantly smaller ones in her mouth. "C'mon!"<em>

Sir Prize entered the door, panting and removing his hat, his mane drenched with sweat. "A hundred and… four." He gasped, swallowing heavily.  
>Applejack glanced up at him in shock. "You bucked a hundred an' four trees?"<br>Prize nodded, shuddering with exhaustion. "I'll be fine; N-no worries." He groaned before promptly collapsing.  
>"Aww, Prize!" Applejack sighed. "This is the fourth time!" She looked at her unconscious son, sighing to herself before slowly setting him on the couch, running to get an ice pack for his head and putting it on his forehead.<br>Blueblood walked out, staring. _"Again?" _He groaned tensely, staring at Sir Prize. "It's getting too hot out for him to be working that hard."  
>"Ah know that!" Applejack snapped, looking over at him.<p>

_Ohnonononononono.  
>Blueblood stood frozen, staring down at the icy peril that lay before him. "A-ah… I don't…" He stood, completely stiff and terrified even to move slightly. How had he gotten here?<br>Applejack chuckled, smirking. "Don't worry, I got you, Sugarcube."_

**~XXX~  
>I will love whoever offers to do story art for this. If you'd like to, let me know in a comment or PM me or something, I'll write a oneshot of your request, no clopfics or extreme gore.<br>-RadaVonVon**


	6. Chapter Six: Failure

**The Elements of Turmoil  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 6: Failure  
>( http:i211(dot)photobucket(dot)com/albums/bb168/Vonnie_Chavonne/SolarFlare(dot)png )**

His paw ran idly through the water, sending multi-colour ripples through it. He flicked at it with one of his lion claws, causing it to rapidly splash around. He lazily blew his paw dry, causing a sudden swarm of cyan and pink butterflies to burst into existence and flap their wings as he breathed life into them, watching them drift away carelessly. He rolled over onto his stomach, sitting lazily by the pool and resting his head on his paw, kicking a dragon leg in the air, his snake tail flicking from side to side.  
>"And who let you in, <em>Discord?<em>"  
>Discord didn't look over, his red and yellow eyes remained trained on the rippling water that sat before him. A chuckle rumbled in his throat. "Oh, I simply wanted to come visit my old home. For, you know. Five thousand years or so." He paused, seeming amused, as he examined his talons, still without looking at who had confronted him.<br>There was no response.  
>"Something wrong," The draconequus looked over, smirking as he stood up. <em>"Celestia?"<em>  
>Celestia stood still, looking oddly alarmed for a moment before settling on a look of smug satisfaction. "No." She answered simply as she flicked her tail, pastel and flowing. "Nothing, nothing at all." She smiled plainly, though Discord identified something off in her smile. He paused.<br>"I see. You've identified it, too." Discord mumbled, returning to his position, stretched out on the grass in Canterlot gardens. His eyes wandered to the pedestal he sat on for so long, like an unassuming piece of art. He felt disgust rising in his throat, but repelled it. A simple pillar now stood upon it.  
>"Identified what?" Celestia asked, seeming abnormally panicked. She was masking something…<br>Discord suddenly looked back at her, startling her once again. He cocked an eyebrow. "The imbalance. As much as I may despise you, Celestia, and your love of all that is sickeningly symmetrical, you are far from an idiot. Or, have you changed?" He suddenly appeared disgusted as he returned to the water, languidly drawing a claw through it, seeming thoughtful.  
>Celestia paused. "I have noticed." She said, sounding uncertain at first, but ending sounding poised. "And you are to blame."<br>The chimera chuckled. "I would _love_ to take credit!" He spiraled into the air, extending his wings and hovering there as fireworks exploded vividly behind him. He donned a jester's hat and a small scepter thumping her on the head with the scepter and gracefully landing in front of her.  
>"Alas, I cannot." He sighed sorrowfully, theatrically slapping the back of his paw to his forehead and collapsing to his knees, before straightening and removing the scepter and hat. "What is happening in your kingdom is in no way attributed to me."<br>"LIES!" Celestia snapped suddenly, raising a hoof irately and slamming it down on his lizard foot.  
>Discord paused angrily for a minute, looking as though he was about to attack her, but when her smug grin remained plastered on her face, he shrank back. Then, he smiled, much to her confusion.<br>"Now, now, Tia. Is that any way to treat your," He paused, to chuckle. "_loyal_ subjects?"  
>"You're not loyal to me." The alicorn spat. "If anything, you're an anarchist! A mutinous fool. You cannot be trusted. I will see to that. And do <em>not<em> call me that! To you, scum, I am Princess Celestia!"  
>"Oh, <em>Princess<em> Celestia. We'll see who can be trusted." Discord smiled peacefully, before returning to his spot beside the pond, beaming.

"Aaaand… Two minutes and fourty seconds!"  
>"Th…" The pegasus was tense beneath her blue coat, her wings flapping madly to stay in the air as she collapsed onto a cloud. "That's it?" She groaned.<br>"Yeah. Sorry." The orange Pegasus shifted uncomfortably.  
>"I'll never be a good flyer."<br>"Hey! Don't give up! That's what I used to think."  
>"Please. That's what everyone says."<br>"When I was your age, I couldn't even get off the ground!"  
>"Liar."<br>"It's true! Ask mom. Come on, Flare. Let's grab a bite to eat." She shifted, putting her purple mane slightly more forward.  
>"… Hey, Scootaloo?"<br>"Yeah?" The orange pony glanced over, smiling for some reason as they drifted lazily through the streets of downtown Cloudsdale.  
>"Am I really your little sister?"<br>Scootaloo blinked, looking worried for a minute. "Uh, yeah. I mean, y'know I'm adopted, Squirt, but you might as well be, Flare."  
>The blue Pegasus nodded, seeming thoughtful. "So it doesn't matter, right?"<br>Scootaloo grinned. "'Course not! Besides, Soarin and Rainbow both think of us as their kids, even if I was already your age when they adopted me. I was there when you were born, kid."  
>The Pegasus stared. "Really?"<br>Scootaloo nodded. "Soarin was freaking out, they almost sedated him. Some solar discharge caused this massive blackout. RD was screaming, Soarin was crying, and I was just kind of trying to keep him calm. Things worked out, obviously." Scootaloo paused, smirking. "But, that's how you got your name. Solar Flare. "  
>"Really?" Flare stared blankly back at Scootaloo, eyeing her for a moment as they flew down to a small café sitting on an individual cloud, residing on the edges of the city.<br>Scootaloo grinned, batting her on the back of the head gently. "Why would I ever lie to you, Squirt?"

_.  
>There he is. Right there. Right there. RIGHT THERE.<br>"Come on, RD. You can do this!" She breathed to herself, stamping her feet as she looked across the room, gazing at him. Him. His green eyes, his well-muscled body. She shuddered, chills going down her spine as her heart jumped into her throat and her stomach doing flip-flops. She slowly approached him, and he turned, making eye contact with her.  
>Oh. My. Gosh. Is my mane okay? My tail? .<br>"Hey. You look, uh, nervous."  
>"NERVOUS? Hahaha! How silly. I'm not nervous! Why would I be nervous? That's stupid! I'm not nervous, why would I be nervous! You're just… Soarin. Of the Wonderbolts. Haha! What is there to be nervous about?"<br>Soarin only chuckled. "Hey, you're the girl who did the Sonic Rainboom at the Best Young Flier's Competition, huh? Rainbow Flash?"  
>"D-dash!" He knew her name! Well, almost! But he knew the first and last parts of her name, just kind of messed up on the middle!<br>"Sorry." Soarin smiled. Even his smile was beautiful… "I meet so many people in one day. Me and Spitfire were actually talking about you. We kinda wanted to run into you. How'd you get back here?"  
>"M-me! Oh. Uh, my friend. She's got some super rich friends up in Canterlot, she was at some fashion thing and got tickets and a pass… She knew how much I ador- I, ergh. I mean, she knew how much I admi- No, I mean, she knew I have this massive crush- Shoot." Rainbow felt the blood rush to her face as she bowed her head in embarrassment. "She knew I really, uhm, would like the chance to meet you."<br>Soarin blinked. "Really? Wait, repeat what you were gonna say."  
>"Wh-what was I gonna say?"<br>"You had a massive crush?" The Wonderbolt smirked self-righteously.  
>"Soarin, stop killing the poor girl." Spitfire laughed, walking slowly over and grinning. "Hey, kid. Nice to meet you. Ignore Soarin's table manners."<br>"Hey! That was ONE TIME!"  
>"Anyway," Spitfire began, casually glancing at Rainbow, the tension she had had with Soarin gone. "Kid, we saw you do that Sonic Rainboom. It's practically unheard of."<br>"Well," Rainbow began, staring to relax a little. "Nothing's too hard for the DASH!" She slicked her hair back with one hoof and exaggeratedly struck a tableau.  
>Soarin and Spitfire exchanged glances shortly, and Dash felt her face heating up. "L-listen," She began shakily. "I'm just REALLY nervous, so I'm sorry if I'm acting really we-"<br>"Rainbow Dash, we got a question for you." Spitfire addressed, and Soarin nodded toward her.  
>"Huh?"<em>

"Five minutes and two seconds." Scootaloo sighed.  
>"Wh-what! The <em>worst <em>colt in my class gets two minutes and fifteen seconds!"  
>Scootaloo glanced up at Solar Flare, seeming disappointed for a moment. "Come on, Flare. One more time. Take it from the Cloud 9 Hotel, go around the city, and meet me here. You can do this. Just avoid that one updraft when you go over the nightclub."<br>Solar Flare nodded, and was off. Though Scootaloo would never dare to say anything, she feared for the filly's career as a flyer. Having talked to Soarin, apparently, she was failing flight school. She examined the blur of blue and orange zipping away in the distance and sadness overtook her. She had dreams of being as great as her parents.  
>How ironic. The two best fliers in all of Equestria, and their offspring can't land a simple barrel roll…<br>She was even more competitive than Rainbow Dash was. Well, of course she was. She had her parents to compete with. Scootaloo felt her stomach drop as she watched the younger pony swoop dangerously, before seeing her swoop up at a sharp angle. She sighed with relief, before smirking to herself and glancing back at her cutie mark. A feather. Just a feather.  
>Scootaloo smiled, remembering running to Rainbow Dash and exclaiming she had gotten her cutie mark. She was confused on the fact that it was a feather, though. Soarin had interjected, talking about how feathers represented virtues in the household he was raised in, though it could easily have a dual meaning.<br>She had grown to really like it. When she was younger, she had taken it as a sign that she would never fly, only be like a feather. Destined to fall, some time, only take short bursts of flight. Of course, that wasn't the case. She wasn't amazing, but she was certainly better than average.  
>Her thoughts were cut off with her sister came speeding by, and Scootaloo looked down to stop the timer. She cringed. "Seven minutes, thirty-six seconds."<p>

_"Rainbow! Slow down!" Rainbow Dash could faintly hear Soarin call behind her. Rainbow smirked, slowing down and falling back. "Maybe you should speed up, slowpoke! So, will you finally admit that I am THE fastest flier in all of Equestria?" She grinned cockily at him.  
>Soarin chuckled. "Fine, but I'm still the best stunt flier."<br>"Deal." They bumped their hooves together.  
>Soarin examined her new garment, a tight-fitting Wonderbolts uniform. "Well, it certainly suits you."<br>"Can I just say something, Soarin?" Rainbow asked pointedly.  
>"Yeah, of course."<br>"This is the COOLEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME!" She turned around, grinning widely. "You have no idea, ever since I was a filly, I've wanted to do this! I would sit outside all day and-" Suddenly, she was choked up and took a deep breath.  
>Soarin stared at her in surprise, guiding her over to a cloud and setting her down. "Hah! Are you alright?" He questioned, concern dotting his voice.<br>"Yeah." A small smile graced her lips. "I really am."  
>Soarin waited a moment before asking, "So, uh, when we first met for the first time and it wasn't just you, gazing dramatically at me from the audience, in the front ro-"<br>"Hey!" Rainbow thumped him on the back of the head. "Give it a rest." She smiled.  
>"Fine, fine. But, uh, what was it about that massive crush, eh?" Soarin chuckled, rubbing up against her, and Rainbow tensed visibly, but laughed, as her cheeks grew red.<br>"Oh, uh, that? That was nothing. I… Freudian slip!"  
>"Haha, oh, really, now?"<br>"Yes, really, now."  
>Soarin paused, seeming thoughtful, and for a nanosecond, he seemed almost… disappointed. "Ah. Y'know, we're pretty high up."<br>"Psh, I know. It's cold." Dash groaned quietly, sinking into the cloud. "I'm still hot from those endurance runs we did."  
>"Well, you're a Wonderbolt now, that's regular." Soarin grinned at her, poking her in the head. "Get used to it.<br>"Oh, I'm prepared to. The question is… Are the Wonderbolts prepared for the Dash?"  
>"Ha. Ha. Ha. So funny. Very funny."<br>"Oh, what? Fine, then! I know." Dash grinned. "Let's jump off and when we get to a couple hundred feet, let's open our wings and fall. No flying. Freefalling."  
>"Oh, please! Foal's play." Soarin smirked. "You're on. But!" He stopped abruptly. "We have to hold hooves."<br>"Hold… hooves?" Dash asked ,staring back at him, practically whipping around.  
>"Yes."<br>"… O-okay." Rainbow found herself blushing again, but she smiled weakly. "Let's do this, then."_ _She said, practically leaping off and grabbing his hoof in hers._

"Soarin, I just dunno what to do."  
>"Listen, she just needs to keep trying. She'll get it eventually!"<br>"Soarin," Scootaloo interjected. "I've seen her. She needs something slower paced. They're going too fast for her. She has you guys to compete with. You guys are the greatest fliers in Equestria! It says so on those plaques!" Scootaloo insisted, pointing at the plaque across the room.  
>Rainbow Dash sighed, glancing at Soarin. "She may be right."<br>Soarin blinked. "But… I mean, it's not like she's failing, or anything."  
>Scootaloo cringed. "Well, erhm." She shifted, having wanted to keep this from them. "She kind of is. But, listen, before you get all mad at her and stuff, I think… Well, this is kind of crazy. I need to move out anyway, but I thought… Well. I was thinking… Okay, this is gonna sound TOTALLY insane. But, hear me out." Scootaloo took a deep breath. "I think you guys should take her to Ponyville. I learned without flight school from you, Rainbow Dash. I think that without the pressure of flight school…"<br>Soarin stared blankly at her. "Maybe that's valid, but I've never been to Ponyville. I wouldn't know anyone. At all."  
>Rainbow Dash sighed and nodded in agreement. "What's the big rush to move out, Scoots?"<br>"Nothing, I just feel like it's time for me to, metaphorically, spread my wings and fly. You know?"  
>"Yeeeeeah." Rainbow contracted. "I remember movin' out of my parent's place…" She trailed off for several seconds before snapping back to reality. "Wait. We're not… Old?" She exchanged a horrified glance with Soarin.<br>"Nah. You're apparently younger than my biological 'parents.' Though, I'm not sure how much good that's going to do you guys. Everyone gets old. You just kind of have to be awesome when you're old, instead of being afraid of it and playing checkers and drinking lemonade in a gazebo." Scootaloo pointed out.  
>Rainbow chortled. "Yeah, we raised you right, I think. From where we started."<br>Scootaloo smiled briefly in return. "Yeah, you really did." She murmured, with a nostalgic grin on her face, before cutting off the memories washing over her. "But, uh, back to what I was saying. Flare's the worst flyer in her class." She said plainly, her eyes downcast. "We have to do something about this. They're going to kick her out."  
>"Can we homeschool her?"<br>"How much good is that going to if she can't fly her way to Ponyville from Cloudsdale?" Scootaloo suddenly snapped to Soarin, "She needs a more basic education." She insisted. "They try to teach her to be like you guys here. She'll never be like you guys, she can barely fly. She may be normal some time, but… She'll never live up to you guys." Scootaloo sighed. The words pained her, knives cutting her throat and mouth as she spoke them. For some reason, she found tears welling up in her eyes.  
>Soarin paused for a moment. "Yeah." He muttered. "I guess I know that. I don't want what happened to Spitfire to have a repeat."<br>The room grew silent.

_Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.  
>Soarin was going downward too quickly at a right angle.<br>He wouldn't be able to pull up. If he expanded his wings, they'd be torn off by his momentum.  
>"Soarin!" Rainbow gasped from the stands. She zipped off, ignoring Spitfire's calls for her to come back. She flew slightly down and forward at an angle before she followed him down, catching his tail in her mouth. Now she just had to pull up.<br>Rainbow extended her wings, trying to slow the fall. It shouldn't be as dangerous as it would have been with Soarin, as she had already yanked him upward. "Soarin! Pull ouf your winfs!" She called, his tail muffling his mouth.  
>"Okay!" Soarin yelped, wincing before extending his wings to their full glory, large and powerful, and muscular.<br>Rainbow spotted Spitfire racing toward them. Something was off. Her trajectory was misguided. She was going to crash. As they were slowing down and both of them gained control and began to fly on their own, about a hundred feet away from the ground, they began to race toward Spitfire.  
>The scene had already attracted a great crowd, oohing and ahhing at something that they thought was a show, for some damn reason.<br>Rainbow was now racing toward Spitfire, a Mach cone appearing around her as she struggled, her cheeks being pulled back by her speed and her face feeling like it was going to peel back as she began to approach the sound barrier. Still not fast enough!  
>A large explosion wracked her body as a sonic rainboom bursting gaudily behind her, leaving a trail of colour as the nearby houses trembled in her wake.<br>A gigantic gasp echoed through the crowd, and all was silent. Rainbow, still petrified, looked around frantically for Spitfire, whom was nowhere to be seen.  
>Until she looked down.<em>

"Mail!" A certain grey-blue Pegasus pony with a yellow mane called from the door of Soarin and Rainbow Dash.  
>Soarin answered the door. "Thanks, Derpy!"<br>"Okay!" Derpy called back, flying away to deliver the mail to the next house. Soarin examined the bright pink, yellow, and blue envelope that the pony had left behind. It was adorned with glitter and balloons. He shrugged, bringing it inside.  
>"Dashie! Mail!"<br>Rainbow Dash walked in, looking embarrassed to be called by her pet name, but shrugging it off. "Who's it from?"  
>Soarin held it up. "No idea. There's no return address. Someone really bothered to decorate it, though. Looks like an invitation of some kind."<br>Rainbow Dash froze, staring at it. "This looks like it's Pinkie Pie's."  
>"You mean the girl who tried to turn the Gala into a child's birthday party?" Soarin smirked, seeming amused.<br>"Uh, yeah. She's one of my best friends, I guess. We haven't really... Talked. What could she possibly want?" Rainbow Dash grumbled, opening the letter tentatively.  
>Confetti exploded into her face, and she could hear Pinkies's voice, thanks to some kind of recording device inside.<br>"This is your singing telegram,  
>I hope it finds you well!<br>There is a pony we all know and love  
>Who's came back with her spells!<br>There's gonna be a party  
>With her and all the others!<br>So please don't be afraid to come, we'd love to have you here!"  
>Another spray of confetti showered Rainbow Dash and Soarin. "Ergh." Rainbow Dash blinked. "Huh, well. I think she means Twilight! Twilight left forever ago with that Whooves guy! Why would she come back?" Rainbow blinked. "A lot of people left. Pinkie may have sent these out to everyone…"<br>Soarin paused. "Well, let's go. We might as well test out Ponyville, since Scoot seems to think it's such a good idea."  
>"Solar's going to be good at something, Soarin." Rainbow Dash paused. "Whether it's flying, or liking animals, or magic, or… or designing or cooking or growing apples or…" She suddenly seemed melancholy.<br>"Hey." Soarin sighed, resting his head on top of hers. "It's alright. It's gonna be fine. Promise."  
>Dash could only stare at the ground, her eyes oddly focused. She looked back up at Soarin. "But… What if it isn't?" She sighed, her mane losing some of its volume. "What if they kick her out? Where's she going to go? No one's ever heard of a fully grown Pegasus that can't fly, Soarin."<br>Soarin grew silent.

_There is no life here.  
>Sterile. The walls are white, reflecting any and all fluorescent light that comes in contact with it so it blinded against your eyes. There is no life here. In the smell of sterile rubbing alcohol and antibacterial things. Cold, unfeeling tile, mopped carelessly by the earth pony in need of a quick buck.<br>The only sounds are of metal clanging, paper sheets and clothing shifting.  
>This place is dead.<br>Rainbow's heart thumped passionately in her chest as she had her eyes on the doctor pony approaching her and Soarin. "Is she okay? Can we see her?" She barked.  
>She could only watch in horror as the doctor's face fell. Rainbow's expression faded, and he shifted. "Her wings are damaged severely. She'll survive. But…"He stopped solemnly. "We may have to amputate her wings." He explained slowly.<br>There is no life here._

She was able to make it, but just barely. By the time they got there, Solar Flare was panting and sweating, whilst Rainbow and Soarin h been leisurely talking the entire time, with her struggling behind them.  
>Scootaloo glanced back at Flare. "Listen, you alright?" She asked, just as the filly collapsed into the dirt and groaned. Scootaloo fuddled with the old photo album she had on her back. Rainbow Dash thought it might be fun to bring it along if they were going to have a reunion of some sort.<br>"Aungggg… Can we never do that again?"  
>"Maybe." Dash chuckled, elbowing Soarin discreetly, who smiled in response, but seemed oddly melancholic. The smile didn't reach his eyes.<br>Dash raised an eyebrow at him, but shrugged it off. "C'mon, Pinkie's probably still in Sugarcube Corner. I think we're actually a little late." She grumbled, half to herself, half to the rest of them as she ducked inside.

_"Leave me alone."  
>The sudden attack surprised Soarin, as he had considered himself to be a very light walker, particularly on clouds.<br>"Rainbow-"  
>"No, stop."<br>"Just listen."  
>"NO! YOU LISTEN!" Rainbow snapped, hopping to her paws. "Do you even understand what happened to her? What she has to live with now? I don't know about you, but I can't imagine living without flying, Soarin!" She hissed.<br>"Rainbow, she's going to be okay. She's alive. She's just going to work as a normal earth pony now. She's going to live."  
>"No, no she's not!" Rainbow jerked away when Soarin tried to place a hoof on her shoulder. "Soarin, she's never going to feel the wind in her mane or soar into the sky or rest on a cloud ever again! She's never gonna fly with us again! She might not even be able to be stuck in the stands half the time, she won't be able to get up to Cloudsdale without magical help!"<br>"Rainbow, her bones are still hollow. She can still walk on clouds. We can still get her up here if she needs it."  
>"Where's her sense of dignity gonna go, huh? What about THAT, Soarin? What's everypony gonna think when she needs other ponies to help her get around? She used to be great! She's SPITFIRE! I used to idolize her, and now look at her." Rainbow Dash paused, choking on her own tears. "Now look at her! Who's she gonna be? Sure, she'll be living. But she won't be alive! I had to live without my wings for all of ten minutes the first time Discord showed his ugly head here in Equestria, and you know what?" She gasped suddenly, trying to control herself.<br>Soarin was now at least a foot away. "What, Rainbow?" He murmured.  
>"There are things worse than death." Rainbow Dash muttered quietly, staring at him with fire blazing in her eyes before she took a deep breath and controlled her breathing once again.<br>Soarin stared blankly at her for a minute as she sat back down. They were on a solitary cloud in the middle of nowhere. Soarin looked at her sadly for a moment, cocking his head. "Listen, I know. And I know that this is going to suck for Spitfire, but we have to keep the Wonderbolts going. What else can we do?" He slumped beside her. "This is going to be on us. Finding new members and stuff."  
>Rainbow nodded. "Soarin, what does this mean for us?"<br>Soarin froze. "What?"  
>"… Never mind. I dunno what I was saying."<br>"Was it about that massive crush?"  
>"Now isn't the time."<br>"Sorry."  
>A long pause ensued, with Soarin looking up at the stars beginning to show themselves.<br>"Yeah. I did, and I still kind of do."  
>"Huh?" Soarin glanced over at Rainbow, then, upon realization of what she had just said, his face turned red. "O-oh." He smiled to himself.<br>"Why?"  
>"Nothing." Soarin covered quickly, smiling, though it was forced.<br>"Come on." Rainbow suddenly smiled weakly, jumping to her hooves.  
>"Wha-? Where are we going?"<br>"We're gonna jump."  
>"Jump?"<br>"Offa this cloud!" She suddenly extended her wings in their full glory, she had at least a seven foot wingspan. Soarin stared in wonderment.  
>"Uh… Okay."<br>Dash grabbed his hooves in hers and leaped off without a second thought, grinning. "Catch me, okay?"_


	7. Chapter Seven: Pictures and Parties!

**The Elements of Turmoil  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 7: Pictures, Ponies, and Parties!**

A long silence was all that was heard when Spike entered the room.  
>"Uh." He stood there for several moments, standing there awkwardly, scanning the room. "Hello, everypony." He mumbled nervously, blinking.<br>"Spike?" Twilight gasped, looking the dragon up and down, examining him as she approached.  
>"Twilight!" Spike stood, frozen, before relaxing. "Twilight." He smiled weakly. "It's just me, everypony." He couldn't very clearly see the faces of the ponies around him, his head was spinning for some reason, with everypony staring at him.<br>After several moments of awkward, frozen silence where people gradually descended back into speaking with each other, having recognized the serpentine purple and green dragon before them as the baby dragon they had once known, minus the dagger like spines of an adult dragon, large fangs, and hardened purple scales where he could feel practically nothing if stabbed with any sort of sharp object.  
>Rarity and Gem filed in after the event, and Spike awkwardly hung at the edges of the room while Rarity introduced Gem to ponies. He shook his head to clear it, trying to recognize ponies. Many of them were ponies he had seen around town in his youth. It was with great discretion that he realized his claws were shaking, and his wings were quivering.<br>Where had Twilight gone? Upon looking around, Spike realized she was still right there, next to him. She was pale, and her eyes were wide. "Spike." She breathed, looking him up and down. "You're…"  
>"A dragon?" He grinned morbidly; showing his knifelike fangs, the largest ones about the size of Twilight's horn, but a great deal sharper. He watched Twilight wince.<br>Twilight nodded silently, seemingly at a loss for words. "Spike, I'm sorry." Twilight murmured, suddenly turning to the side to examine the rest of the party.  
>"Why?"<br>Twilight sucked in one of her cheeks, appearing to chew it thoughtfully while she stepped over to the table to grab a cup of punch, glancing down at it darkly. "For leaving. It wasn't… He wasn't… He wasn't worth it. Most if it wasn't." She idly twiddled her hooves.  
>Spike felt emotion build up in his chest, and he exhaled steam after holding his breath for several seconds. A dancing couple nearby glanced over, clearly frightened, and stepped away without making any attempt to cover their actions. "I tried to explain that to you, Twilight." He sighed, glancing over at what was once something of an older sister to him. "He left, didn't he?"<br>The music in the background faded to a dull thumping noise in the background as Twilight idly sipped her punch, fiddling with her mane. "Y-yeah." She finally said, choking over her words. "He did."  
>Spike's brow furrowed. "A real man, dragon or pony, doesn't do that."<br>"That wasn't the case, though. I… I don't know if he left me, or… Or if he… He said he'd be back. He promised he'd be back." Twilight glanced over at Spike, who shifted uncomfortably. "I… I think I trust him. I think. I want to, Spike." She looked over at him quietly, and he saw that her eyes were watering.  
>"Listen, I'm sorry." Spike sighed. "I didn't mean to bring it up."<br>"No, it's alright." Twilight smiled despondently. "I did."  
>"TWILIGHT! Oof, Twilight!" Rarity called, prancing across the room and grinning. "Oh my goodness, I cannot believe you're here!"<br>Twilight snapped back to reality. "Rarity?" She tackled the other mare, grinning. "I missed you!"  
>"Ah, careful, darling. The mane, the mane!" Rarity struggled beneath Twilight in a vain attempt to fix her mane.<br>Once they were back up and dusting themselves off, Rarity smiled, walking to Spike. "Well, after that ordeal, at least everypony will know you."  
>Spike nodded, his eyes casting to the side.<br>"Huh? Is something wrong, darling?" Rarity asked with a suave smile.  
>Twilight stared. "Wait. You two?" Her mouth was agape with shock.<br>Rarity looked over to Twilight, chuckling. Spike chortled slightly and swung his great head around. "Yes. I'm very lucky." He stated proudly, rubbing his head against Rarity's.  
>Twilight's gaze softened. "Yes. You are." She nodded in agreement, and her gaze fell on a purple, green, and white pony across the room, chatting idly with some sort of brightly coloured zebra pony.<br>"Wait." Twilight looked from the pony with dragon wings to Spike and Rarity. Then back to the dragon-pony hybrid, and back to Spike and Rarity, and her face went pale. "WHAT?"  
>Spike only laughed while Rarity called, "Gem! Will you please come and sit with us for a spell? We have someone to introduce you to."<br>Gem seemed exasperated, but he politely walked over to the group, extended a hoof to Twilight Sparkle and systematically muttered, "Hello. My name is Gem. Fine weather we're having." and proceeded to glare back at Rarity, who sighed.  
>"That's a bit far from… Enthusiastic, dear."<br>"Sooooorrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyy." The colt grumbled, sitting down on his haunches in the nearest chair.  
>"Err, nice to meet you, Gem! I'm Twilight Sparkle."<br>"Wait." Gem stared. "THE Twilight Sparkle?"  
>"Yes, I suppose." Spike watched redness visibly creep onto Twilight's face as she shot the dragon a glare. He merely shrugged innocently.<br>"Oh. Well, the way Dad talks about you, I thought you'd be an alicorn or something." The hybrid grumbled acidulously before sliding off of his seat and slithering off across the room, where no other ponies stood.  
>Twilight sat there, dumbfounded. "Uh. Well. I also have a-" She cut herself off when she saw Spike's expression grow visibly angry. "a son." She finished quietly. "I'll go get him." She murmured and trotted off.<br>Spike felt Rarity elbow his side. "Remind me to speak to him about his attitude," She snapped. Spike nodded, and Rarity continued. "and yours. This doctor fellow may have not been the kindest to Twilight, but Twilight Sparkle is still the same pony." She insisted.  
>Spike nodded weakly. "I know. It's just… He hurt her, Rarity. Just like that Blueblood guy did to you, and… And…"<br>Rarity smiled sadly at him, placing a hoof on his mouth and shushing him. Spike smiled just as Twilight was leading a colt over to them. "This is Clockwork, guys. Clockwork, please meet Spike and Rarity."  
>The colt smiled, bowing his head. "And how do you do?" He asked timidly.<br>Rarity gasped in excitement. "Oh, a true gentlecorn! You did a fine job, Twilight. I am fine, Monsieur Clockwork! "  
>Twilight smiled and dismissed Clockwork as he nodded, shifting awkwardly on his hooves. "And, please, meet some friends. Friendship is magic, you know." She assured after him. Clockwork nodded obediently, but simply went to another side of the room, hanging out awkwardly, a wallflower.<br>"Is anyone else here?" Spike rumbled, laying down and flicking his tail in acknowledgement to Twilight as he rested his head on his claws.  
>"Well, I'm sure Pinkie's here, but I haven't seen her. She may be cooking." Twilight nodded. "I don't think it'd be much of a problem if we went to the back to see her."<br>Rarity nodded. "Of course, darling!" She flashed her friend a smile and walked back with Twilight, Spike leading the two ponies, as he now knew just where the kitchen was after all their years in Ponyville.  
>When he first entered the kitchen, what he saw took him off guard. There sat Discord, the Prince of Chaos himself, lounging idly as he appeared to be setting out ingredients for something. Some sort of baked goods.<br>Spike hissed, his forked tongue slipping out of his mouth as he did so, yielding back on his claws. The draconequus evidently hadn't noticed them until then, glancing up and smirking. "My, my. Look at the little dragon assistant, all grown up, are we?" He chuckled, stooping down and flicking Spike's nose gently.  
>Spike let out a strange bark, smoke exhuming from his mouth and nostrils and swirling around his head.<br>"Now, now. No need to singe me." Discord chuckled. "Or give me lung cancer." He mumbled to himself as an afterthought.  
>"Pinkie!" He called over his shoulder. "Fashionista, Teacher's Pet, and Dragon are here!"<br>Spike was suddenly confused. "Wha-?"  
>A familiar pink pony came bouncing from the upstairs, gasping suddenly at the sight of the three. "Spike! Rarity! Twilight!" She tackled the three. "Oh, yay! I was just cutting some paper when Cordy called me and then I heard him making fun of Spike and I thought maybe I should stop cutting paper, because, ya know, scissors are sharp! So I stopped but then I tried to rip it turned out all messy, cuz I was making a welcome home card for Twilight, so it couldn't be messy! I mean, tapioca pudding is messy, and who likes tapioca pudding? So I came down here to get some more paper and now you guys are here!" Pinkie chattered ceaselessly<br>"Pinkie," Spike began trying to keep her from saying anything else unrelated. "What is… _he _doing here?" He nodded his head, clearly agitated, to Discord, who was still getting out ingredients: Flour, eggs, sugar…  
>"Huh?" Pinkie turned around. "What's who doing here?" Pinkie cocked her head. "All I see is Discord."<br>"Yeah! Exactly!"  
>Rarity chuckled nervously. "Uh, Spike. Do you not remember? I told you about Discord and Pinkie."<br>"Wha- Oh." Spike suddenly blinked. "Yeah. I do." His eyes narrowed, and he exchanged a glance with Twilight. "Hunh." He mumbled, scrutinizing Discord, who was absentmindedly floating, examining the room around him, mumbling thoughtfully to himself.  
>Twilight nodded and shrugged. Rarity nodded, inhaling sharply. "Well," She began, breaking the awkward silence. "Isn't this a party?" She smiled.<br>Pinkie nodded excitedly. "But now that you guys showed up, I have to make cards for you guys, too!" She bounced circles around them, Spike followed her with his eyes, before he gave up, decidedly dizzy.  
>"Come on, Pinkie!" Twilight groaned. "It's your party!"<br>"Wellllllllllllllll," Pinkie paused thoughtfully, tapping her chin with her hoof.  
>"I have it back here! Go." Discord glanced up, smirking.<br>Pinkie nodded, bouncing back with them. Spike reminded himself not to eat anything that came out of the kitchen now, feeling sick to his stomach. It was probably going to be spiked with some sort of schizophrenia-inducing drug. He shuddered.  
>As they moved into the main room with the party, it became clear that Fluttershy and Big Mac had entered with Applejack and… Blueblood? They had a colt and filly, but… Blueblood?<br>Pinkie gasped, dashing over. "Yay! It's AJ and Fluttershy!" She hugged both of them. "Hi Mac, hi Bluey!"  
>Blueblood bowed his head and smiled, saying something Spike couldn't hear. Big MacIntosh and Fluttershy he could see. But… Blueblood? He glanced back to Rarity, who was frozen on her hooves, looking terrified. Her blue eyes were massive.<br>"Rarity?" Spike asked quietly, tapping her on the back. She suddenly relaxed, taking a deep breath and glancing back at Spike.  
>"Ah, I-"<br>"No, I understand." Spike smiled weakly. "Come on. We might as well… see where this went."  
>Rarity nodded slowly, seeming to reanimate and walking up to Blueblood, who immediately froze in horror, looking even more confused than Rarity had been. His eyes passed over Spike, and he turned even more pale, before Applejack chuckled. "Come on, Sugarcube. He don't bite! Hey, Spike! How you doin'? You've grown mighty big."<br>Spike nodded as Applejack hugged him fearlessly, something he hadn't gotten in quite a while. "Rarity, Ah know you an' Blueblood had some misgivings, but he's changed a mighty lot, so Ah think he deserves another chance from ya." Applejack smiled calmly, but there was a slight sweat on her brow. It was clear she just wanted nopony fighting today.  
>Rarity tentatively stuck out her proffered hoof, and Blueblood accepted it with a calm demeanor, kissing her hoof. "Lady Rarity, it is an honour to meet you once again, and I must apologise for my initial behavior when we met."<br>Rarity shifted slowly, nodding and then smiling. Spike noted to ask Applejack how in the world that had happened later on. He turned his eyes on Big MacIntosh and Fluttershy, which both astounded him and did not.  
>Rarity trotted beside him, hugging Fluttershy, who seemed excited, but had clearly reverted back to her old self, talking very quietly and looking down, with her hair covering her face. Rarity and her chatted while Spike and her had briefly spoken, and he said hello to Big MacIntosh when he felt a tug on his tail.<br>He whipped around to find a grey unicorn colt tugging on it with his blue magic. Spike raised an eyebrow, violently jerking his tail and chuckling when the colt looked at him and realized he had noticed. "Hi, kid. No worries, I don't bite, singe, or maim." He smiled good-naturedly, and the colt relaxed slightly.  
>"Sir Prize!" Applejack snapped. "This here's Spike, have some manners for 'im, he's a good friend of ours!"<br>"Sorry, Spike." The colt blinked, frozen.  
>Spike only laughed. "No worries. I remember being a kid. So, Sir Prize?"<br>The colt nodded.  
>"Hi, Mr. Spike!" A pegasus filly came up behind Sir Prize. "This here's my cousin, he's kind of a dummy! Ah'm Apple Core, though! Nice to meet you! You're a dragon, right? Ah love dragons! Ah love all kinds of animals and dragons and ponies!"<br>Spike grinned, sitting down on his haunches and flicking his tail back and forth, amused. "Apple Core, hm?"  
>"Yessir! My ma taught me all about you and Miss Twilight and Miss Rarity and Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Pinkie and Auntie Applejack!"<br>Spike smiled sweetly, feeling his heart melt when Sir Prize bonked Apple Core on the back of the head. "No, you're a dummy!"  
>"No, you are!"<br>"Nu-uh!"  
>Watching the cousins go after each other reminded him of playing with the Cutie Mark Crusaders when he had been a baby dragon. He shook his head of memories and smiled. "Well, Miss Apple Core and Mister Sir Prize, I have people to talk to, but it was nice meeting you!"<br>As he wandered away, leaving the two away to bicker, Pinkie bounced by him. "Oh, hi, Spike! So, I'm gonna ask Rainbow and Twilight and Rarity and Fluttershy and Applejack and all the foals and everyone they came with to stay after so we can make sure we're all caught up! I didn't know you were moving to Ponyville, that makes me really excited, we're gonna have so much fun! You know what else is fun? Tapioca pudding!"  
>"But, I thought you said tapioca p-"<br>"Bye, Spikey-Wikey!"  
>Spike sighed, shrugging it off and returning to a corner of the room, watching some of the foals interact. So. Him and Rarity. Big MacIntosh and Fluttershy. Blueblood and… Applejack. Twilight and that one jerk. The doctor guy. Pinkie and… Eargh. The only ones that made sense to him was him and Rarity, and Big Mac and Fluttershy. It occurred to him that he had no clue who Rainbow had gotten together with. Though, she had always seemed… off. He blinked, shaking it off.<br>He watched several ponies he had no interest in come and go, assuming Rainbow would arrive fashionably late.  
>Oddly enough, he caught a glance of Spitfire. He remembered hearing about Rainbow being a part of the Wonderbolts, though, he hadn't paid much attention to Spitfire, though something definitely seemed off. He brushed it off as that she wasn't wearing her Wonderbolts uniform; he was so accustomed to that.<br>His answer came when his thoughts were interrupted by Bon Bon's amazed screeching, "It's the Wonderbolts!"  
>He glanced up to see Rainbow Dash and Soarin, standing next to each other, just as they had always been, with Scootaloo carrying something and a blue and orange Pegasus filly trotting behind them, looking absolutely exhausted.<br>Rainbow's cheeks went red as she snuck off to join the clump of the old Elements of Harmony, and Spike figured he should sneak in. He was somewhat pleasantly surprised that Rainbow had gotten together with a stallion, but not all that shocked. He reminded himself not to judge as he watched Spitfire walk over to Rainbow and tap her gently on the shoulder.  
>Both Rainbow and Soarin turned around in shock, and Rainbow went pale. Spike stared for a moment, realizing that this was some kind of tearful reunion. He wondered why Spitfire was no longer a part of the Wonderbolts, when he realized what was different about her.<br>Her wings. She looked like an earth pony now, but he noticed several ugly whitish scars on her back where her wings had been previously. They had been surgically removed.  
>He felt sick suddenly. He had heard something about one of the Wonderbolts having their wings removed, but… Spitfire? Not Spitfire. He hadn't even known her that well, but… He swallowed hard. In spite of the fact that he developed his wings once he had become older, the prospect of losing them terrified him. And they weren't even his career!<br>As soon as they appeared to be done, and were now chatting, (though Rainbow still seemed slightly teary, but she was collecting herself.) Spike lumbered up to them, and Rainbow stared. "Holy crap, dude. Spike?"  
>Spike nodded, staring at Rainbow. "Hey."<br>Rainbow tackled him, immediately trying to give him a noogie, but finding his scales thick and hard, so she simply leapt to her feet. "Dude, Spike, you're huge!" She gasped, taking in his slightly-larger-than-a-pony size and stretching it to immense proportions.  
>"Bigger than I was, I guess." Spike grinned, flashing off his large incisors for good measure. Rainbow's eyes widened. "Whoah. So, uh, you know Soarin. Soarin, this is-"<br>Rainbow turned to the other blue Pegasus to realize he was pale with his eyes huge.  
>"… Spike. " Rainbow said flatly, glaring at him. "He's a friend of mine, ever since he was a baby and I was a filly."<br>Soarin looked awkwardly at Rainbow before slowly shifting. "Uh. H-hi, Spike."  
>Spike sighed. "No, I get it. Most ponies just aren't used to seeing a dragon, you know? They just hear horror stories. S'far as I know, I'm the only one who hangs out with ponies." He shrugged.<br>Soarin remained tense but swallowed and smiled.  
>Scootaloo grinned and high-fived Spike, who tilted his head to see her cutie mark. "A feather? Nicely done." Spike grinned as Scootaloo put the object he had seen earlier on her orange back. It was now apparent that it was a thick brown book, looking something of a photo album, with little bits of paper sticking out from between the pages.<br>"Yeah. How you doin', dude?"  
>"Good." Spike smirked, glancing to the terrified filly hiding behind Soarin.<br>Scootaloo smiled. "Well, after you ran off for a couple years," her face fell for a moment. "Soarin and Rainbow adopted me. That's a whole 'nother story, but this is my sister. Hey, Flare, come on out, he's not gonna bite. Soarin's just scared because he's a chicken!"  
>"Hey!" Soarin protested.<br>The filly was shaking on her legs but managed a weak-looking smile. "H-hi, Mr... Uh," She paused to swallow nervously. "Spike."  
>Scootaloo raised an eyebrow. "Spike, this is Solar Flare."<br>Spike nodded politely. "Nice to meet you."  
>The filly shot back behind Soarin, and Scootaloo only sighed. "Pinkie said we'd all be hanging after this, so RD thought it'd be cool to bring an old photo album. It's got anything from when Twilight came to Ponyville, to Appleoosa," Her face fell slightly in lieu of remembrance of Braeburn's incident a few years back. The last time they had all seen each other was his funeral. "And, uh, y'know, all these pics of RD and Tank and stuff." She shook her head quickly to clear the memory and Spike nodded.<br>Everyone seemed to slowly return to their own positions in the party room as time continued on. Spike watched ponies come and go, but eventually for every pony that came in, three left. Baked goods were transferred from the kitchen to the tables by Pinkie, and empty trays went back into the kitchen. Spike felt sick every time he watched everypony take something from the tables. It occurred to him to warn them that the draconequus had made them, but that would be immensely rude and hurt Pinkie's feelings. He shook his head of the idea.  
>Eventually, all that was left was him, six foals, ten ponies, and the chimera baking in the back. He noted that neither Twilight nor Rarity had eaten any of the cupcakes that had come from the kitchen.<br>When Pinkie came out, somehow still completely energized, carrying one last tray of cupcakes, she set them on the table and took a deep breath. "Cordy, go ahead!"  
>Almost instantaneously, the familiar surroundings of Sugarcube Corner that Spike had grown up with began to melt and morph into something entirely unfamiliar. It looked like some sort of hellish, smaller version of the chaotic Ponyville in the short time Discord had ruled. Multicoloured checker walls on every floor, ceiling, and wall, spilling together in disharmony. It made him cringe. He could hear the chimera snapping and eventually float out the kitchen.<br>"This is far better." He breathed a sigh of relief.  
>Everypony was staring around them. Rainbow finally spoke up. "What happened to this place?"<br>"I made a few personal touches." Discord smirked, examining his eagle hand.  
>"Yeah! It's our house! But we thought, Oh no! All the ponies in Ponyville won't like these changes because last time this happens Ponyville was almost destroyed, so we decided to change it however we could because Cordy can use his magic that way!" Pinkie explained exuberantly, bouncing around the others.<br>"Yes." Discord explained. "I thought that the oh-so-brave Elements of Harmony could handle it! After all, you did manage to seal me away. I figured if you just got terrified, you could listen to your wonderful Princess' instructions, and j-"  
>"That's enough, Discord." Twilight held up a hoof, and Discord smirked. "For those of you that don't know this, Discord and Pinkie fell in love or something. Pinkie freed him, and now he's under Celestia."<br>"I prefer the term, 'making a sacrifice and tolerating the old hag'." Discord added.  
>"Whatever." Twilight gritted her teeth. "Anyway, the same goes for Spike and Rarity. Spike may be grown, but he's the same Spike we know and love."<br>Spike nodded slowly in the corner, walking over to join Rarity.  
>Scootaloo slowly stood up. "Uhm. Since most of us are met now, and all… Rainbow thought it'd be a cool idea. I, uh, have an old photo album from a few years ago." She held it up, setting it on the nearest table. Spike watched Discord lower his shades, (wherever he had gotten them and why he was wearing them was of no interest to him.) and raise an eyebrow before he reached over to a CD player, shrugging and playing music. watch?v=D70wN90aeLM&feature=fvwrel  
>"That's a great idea, Scootaloo!" Pinkie cheered, entirely immune to the tension Discord had caused that Twilight had simply supplemented by addressing it. "Come on, Everypony!" She called, trotting over to the table. The foals, seeming disinterested, simply stayed in the corner. He shrugged. They were foals. They had no interest in their parents' memories.<br>He slowly walked over. The first image that he saw was one of him and Twilight's arrival in Ponyville, at the party Pinkie had thrown, with Spike, exceptionally smaller, riding on her back.  
>He heard several small 'aw's thrown in, and blushed slightly.<br>They went through several different pictures. Until they came upon Dash, kissing a picture of Soarin from a magazine.  
>Rainbow turned bright red, and Scootaloo began to chuckle, until the rest of the room interrupted into laughter and Soarin punched her gently in the shoulder. "Heh," Rainbow mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "How did that get in there?"<br>Several more pictures, posed at sights around Ponyville. Several of Spike in stacks of books, multiple ones of Rainbow's first Sonic Rainboom, however blurry. Multiple Winter Wrap-Ups with Pinkie ruining the photos by jumping around in the background or foreground.  
>The Summer Solstice festival, and the Grand Galloping Gala. Rarity gasped. "I still have those dresses! I never got rid of them! Oh, we should see if they still fit!"<br>Everypony murmured in agreement. "Shucks, Rarity. Ya still think Ah can fit into that?" She paused, then chuckled. "Ah admit, it was mighty comfortable." Applejack mumbled, turning slightly red, and Blueblood chuckled.  
>"Of course you could." He insisted, turning and smiling genuinely at her.<br>Maybe this guy wasn't so bad.  
>They came across a picture of Spike, following Rarity, while completely starry-eyed. Chuckles sounded through the group, and Spike turned red-faced again. "Haha." He smiled good-naturedly, then turned around. "Who took that!" He snapped, half-joking.<br>They came across a picture of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Tank, Angel, and Opalescence from when Rainbow had first gotten Tank.  
>Pictures of Appleoosa, and the room went silent as they came across a picture of Braeburn, but they simply skipped past them before Applejack said, "He was a good pony." And took off her hat, holding it to her chest.<br>Then, there was a picture of Pinkie from her performance in Appleoosa, convincing everyone to share and care, respectively. She wore a somewhat short dress with a large, obstructive feather in her mane and fishnets.  
>There was an awkward, hilarious silence, before Discord looked over at Pinkie, smirking deviously. "I would have liked to have seen that the other n-"<br>"OOOOKAY!" Twilight, thankfully, cut him off. Though, it was a bit late. The image was ingrained into the heads of those in proximity.  
>"Augh!" The brightly coloured filly from earlier groaned. "Thank you, I needed that." She grumbled, stamping an indignant hoof.<br>Pinkie paused. "Well, it's not like Spike and Rarity are normal when they h-"  
>Spike slapped a claw over her mouth and turned bright red, Rarity had apparently had the same thought, and each of them groaned as well.<br>Fluttershy sighed nervously. "Uh, can we… Can we just continue, please?" She asked, her face red.  
>"Please." Twilight complained, stomping one of her hooves and turning the page onto more shots of Pinkie waving flirtatiously at the camera. Finally, she skipped ahead a large section of pages, and the group laughed nervously.<br>Now, it was Rainbow and Rarity at the Best Young Flier's competition, with Rainbow smiling nervously and Rarity grinning with her gaudy lipstick and jewelry.  
>Then, Rainbow saving her from falling to her death with the Wonderbolts.<br>They continued laughing and talking about various memories as they perused through the old pictures, until they came across one in particular. Twilight Sparkle smiling, looking as though she were about to burst into laughter, sitting on top of some sort of building that looked like it was in Fillydelphia with Doctor Whooves. Twilight simply flipped right by it, but Spike had seen the colour drain from her face, and placed the tip of his tail comfortingly on her shoulder. She glanced over to him and smiled, as they continued speaking.  
>When they reached the last picture, Solar Flare and Scootaloo cheering in the stands while Rainbow and Soarin performed some sort of trick, clad in their Wonderbolts uniforms, they somewhat broke apart, meeting each other's foals.<br>Spike had met all of them, save for the multicoloured filly from earlier. She seemed to be by herself or with Gem most of the time. "Hey," He introduced, smiling at her.  
>"Hi! My name's Candied Chaos! Nice to meet you, Mr. Spike!" She quickly extended a hoof, shaking his claw violently. He wasn't too sure why he asked his next question, or why the answer shocked him, as it should have been obvious, but nevertheless, he did.<br>"So, who are your parents?"  
>"Discord and Pinkie Pie!"<br>Spike stood, in absolute shock, staring at her. She was half chimera. Was that even possible? The idea of Pinkie being a mother terrified him slightly. "O-oh." He said stiffly, blinking and staring blankly at the ground. Discord and… Pinkie? But… That made no sense. The idea almost made him feel sick. He shifted on his feet, deciding to go get something to drink. That would explain her zebra pattern, her horns… Celestia knows what genes she had inherited? What defects she had?  
>He slowed down his thoughts before they became too harsh. People had thought and still were thinking the exact thing about Gem, who, aside from his wings and general appearance, was a normal foal in his entirety. He noted that he should be less judgmental if he was going to be moving back to Ponyville like they had planned.<br>Without a word, Scootaloo moved over to him. "You seem distraught."  
>"Yeah. Kind of."<br>"Bout what?"  
>"The draconequus."<br>"You mean the one me, Sweetie, and Applebloom accidentally freed?"  
>"Yeah. Him." Spike had heard about the ordeal plenty of times, with them begging him not to tell Twilight.<br>"What? Is it about Pinkie and him?" Scootaloo asked, lowering her tone of voice so as to not be heard.  
>Spike nodded slowly. "Have you seen that filly with the zebra and the horns and bright mane and tail? The neon coloured one?"<br>"Yeah. She's theirs, isn't she? Her name's Candied Chaos. Perfectly normal, if you ask me."  
>"That isn't normal, Scoots." Spike said blankly, feeling as though he was going to be sick once again. "That's not… He tried to kill Celestia and take over Equestria! I don't understand why everyone except me and Twilight are so okay with it now. Pinkie set him free, and everyone's okay with it. As far as we know, he's plotting our demise." Spike growled, looking at the draconequus having a conversation with Pinkie across the room.<br>"Spike, Pinkie may act like it, but there's no way she's really that stupid." Scootaloo sighed, moving away from Spike.  
>As Spike contemplated what had made Scootaloo run off, he felt an all-too-familiar feeling rise in his chest. Something he hadn't felt in years. It rose slowly at first, going up his chest, up his throat, and finally entered his mouth, and, with a loud roar, he let out a green, fiery belch.<br>Everypony was slightly singed and stared in shock at Spike. To his own surprise, there sat a letter, no doubt stamped with a purple wax seal that read, _'C'._  
>"Guys! It's from Princess Celestia!"<p> 


	8. Chapter Eight: Stained Glass Windows

**The Elements of Turmoil  
>By RadaVonVon<br>Chapter 8:  
>NOTE: Candied Chaos underwent a slight redesign. This image is now replacing the one on chapter one. <strong>

The Equestrian summer was blisteringly hot. Cicadas chirped through the streets, filling the air with meaningless noise as humidity soaked into their fur and seeped into their bones, warming them from both the inside and the outside. Heat waves simmered from the pavement in visible smears of light, distorting images around them.  
>Such was the case with the foals and Twilight Sparkle. The letter had called specifically for Twilight and the foals of the Elements of Harmony, asking that the rest of them stay behind. Thankfully, the carriage with the white Pegasus guards traveled at such a high altitude that they weren't down near the ground, where the heat was coming from every angle. Rather, they had a light breeze blowing on their faces as they traveled in the direction of Canterlot.<br>Princess Celestia had summoned them, for whatever reason. She hadn't specified, though Candied Chaos had heard Discord mumbling to himself and to Pinkie about some kind of imbalance, but Chaos had shrugged it off every time, passing it off as something that didn't involve her.  
>Being raised by the ultimate embodiment of chaos and a pink party pony wasn't exactly the most conventional of upbringings, though, in retrospect, Chaos couldn't imagine the prospect of being raised by the modern equivalent of a 'normal' family. She glanced over at Twilight Sparkle, who looked unnaturally excited.<br>The six foals and Twilight were crammed into a small chariot pulled by three strangely well-muscled Pegasus guards. She was smashed between Twilight Sparkle, who hadn't bothered initiating conversation, and Apple Core, whom was too busy constantly chatting to Sir Prize about things regarding their family. Something she, unequivocally, was uninterested in. She turned slowly to Twilight. "Hi!" She greeted cheerily.  
>Twilight Sparkle was brought from her reverie of hanging over the edge of the chariot to turn to her, and blinked, almost in surprise. Chaos paused, grinning. "So, do you like cupcakes?"<br>"Yeah, I guess."  
>"I love cupcakes! Have you ever made them from scratch? I like to make them inside out! Have you ever made inside-out cupcakes?"<br>"No…"  
>"You must have! They taste particularly good if yo-"<br>"Listen, I'm really sorry, but I'm not feeling all that well and I'm not up to talking." Twilight elucidated plainly.  
>Chaos, taken aback, only stared at Twilight, blinking. For once, she was at a loss for words and slumped back into her seat. She'd never particularly spent time with anyone outside of her anomalous little family. She paused, as everypony seemed to be in conversation, aside from the other pony sitting on the far end of the chariot. The dragon one.<br>He seemed so… introverted, though. He paused, deciding to go down the row and decide, based on what she knew so far of each of the ponies, whether they were introverts or extroverts. The ride would be somewhat lengthy… Perhaps she'd entertain herself.  
>Gem was an introvert. Clockwork… Introvert. Solar Flare… Introvert. Sir Prize and Apple Core? Extroverts. She wasn't too sure about herself. At this point, Twilight seemed rude, so she didn't bother qualifying her. She tapped a back hoof in anxiety. What would the Princess be like?<br>She wasn't entirely immune to the fact that Discord was disliked in Ponyville, and perhaps Celestia and him weren't entirely loving of each other, but…  
>She pondered this for a moment. "Hey!" She turned back to Twilight. "Is Celestia gonna like me?"<br>"Why?" Twilight turned, furrowing her brow, almost in disgust. Chaos recoiled. Twilight flickered her eyes before her gaze, ordinarily so stiff, had just softened. Twilight smiled, almost sadly. "Ah. Well, I think so. The Princess isn't discriminating or anything, and-"  
>Candied Chaos interjected, "But, do you like me?"<br>"Huh?"  
>"Do you like me? I know you don't like Dad, but that makes sense. Someone tries to destroy your home and turn it into a chaotic mess, however comfortable that may be…" She paused. "I guess I understand. I don't know the full story either, but I know Mom loves him, and… I do too, I guess. That's all I need to know and to be content with who he is."<br>Twilight simply kept her mouth shut, though the tenseness underneath her lavender coat had returned, and Chaos sighed to herself. Thankfully, the chariot landed almost immediately, avoiding any further awkward conversations with the unicorn.  
>They had landed just outside the gardens. Whilst walking through the area, Candied Chaos couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. There was something… unholy about this place. She shuddered and continued walking until they were inside the castle, and her sense of worry only grew as they walked through sets of stained glass windows, many featuring Discord and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. She felt her throat tighten and she took a deep breath, shaking.<br>Gem, the pony-dragon she'd been talking to earlier at the party, the only one who had really responded to her, glanced at her, blinking and cocking his head toward one of the stained glass windows, raising an eyebrow.  
>Chaos nodded slowly. She'd known enough about what had happened long ago, but only could wonder if Celestia would react similarly. Twilight pushed open a large chamber door with odd inscriptions and more details on it, made of marble with dark colours swirling and ducking just beneath the visible surface of the stone.<br>When the doors were opened, the throne room was revealed. A soft, downy carpet, a dark shade of crimson, covered the floor. The same tile, an eggshell marble covered the floors. Columns stood at attention, lining the carpeted pathway to the Princess's throne, with more of the white Pegasus guards standing between the columns, dressed in glossy gold armor, shielded from any possible debris or weapons that may come flying in their direction.  
>The princess herself was breathtaking. The descriptions she had heard from her father had always been some kind of insult, but the filly had to wonder how one could insult one as majestic. Her coat was an iridescent white colour, shining a full spectrum from a certain angle, causing her to shimmer in the correct light and angle. Her mane and tail flowed elegantly on some unseen breeze, appearing almost liquid as it shimmered and wavered even further with each movement she made. Her wings, though folded in, were massive, with well-preened feathers that gleamed just as brilliantly as the rest of her did. She wore a golden breastplate with inscriptions all along it, a brilliant purple gem set in the center, matching the tiara that was sophisticatedly placed on her head, adorning her lengthy horn.<br>It wasn't until Twilight tapped her that she realised her mouth was hanging open. Though the young mare had heard stories about Princess Luna, the other princess was nowhere to be seen, it seemed. An empty throne, made of dark onyx, with several multi-faceted diamonds set in the back, giving the illusion of a limitless night sky.  
>She was just beginning to examine the solar princess' throne when her train of thought was broken as she realised that at some point, Princess Celestia had stood up and was now in front of the seven ponies. She gulped, sitting back on her haunches.<br>The princess smiled graciously, and Candied Chaos felt herself relax slightly. Some of the guards were staring at her oddly, whispering and pointing alabaster hooves. She shook it off.  
>"I'm sure there's a great deal of confusion as to why I was so secretive in summoning you lot here." Celestia said slowly, her eyes scanning over the group, though she was smiling good-naturedly. Chaos relaxed, observing her hooves had been shaking for some bizarre reason. The violent thumping in her chest had finally slowed to an oscillating cadence she was barely aware of.<br>Everypony slowly glanced at each other before nodding slowly. She noticed many of the other foals looked even more nervous than she did, more so than she did. Particularly the brown one with the purple mane. Whatever his name was. Clockwork?  
>"Well," The matriarch continued, swishing her magnificent tail behind her. Candied Chaos got a glance of her intricate cutie mark, a sun. Precipitously, she snapped her head toward the guards. "Please, leave us. I am safe with these seven. We have matters of the utmost secrecy to discuss."<br>Each of the guards nodded in unison, still at attention, and marched out unanimously. Celestia waited until the last one had left before opening her mouth to continue. "Now, I've discovered something rather disturbing. There is an imbalance in Equestria, between harmony and chaos. It is unidentified, but both Luna and I agree that it has something to do with you six." She swished her glorious horn over the foals. "I had Twilight accompany you here because she was one of my students, and I trust her greatly. We detected two imbalances." The Princess paused, cocking her head for the seven to follow her. She led them closer to the throne, where she pulled out a large, extravagant map of the known world, with Equestria in the center.  
>Celestia pointed to Equestria, where Canterlot was high in the northern area, with Ponyville lingering more toward the center. "We are here." She motioned to Canterlot before moving her hoof, adorned with a beautiful, sparkling glass shoe, westward. "This is a land known as Dystopia. It's been long abandoned, it's a wasteland. She moved her hoof to the farthest edge of the map, to an area haphazardly circled in scarlet. "This is where we're sensing a disturbance. It seems to be resonating throughout Equestria, sending waves of… Well, disturbances throughout the entire map, but, for some reason, it appears to only be affecting Equestria."<br>The princess coughed before continuing. "Eh hem, ah, so, there's another disturbance. Yesterday, we sensed it centered in Sugarcube corner, in a very concentrated area. It's you six." Celestia said slowly, and Twilight Sparkle shot to her hooves. "What? That's impossible. Princess, these are just six foals. There's nothing special about them!"  
>"Twilight," Celestia interrupted sternly, and Twilight nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Princess."<br>Princess Celestia nodded. "As I was saying, "Even some of the most skilled ponies in Equestria cannot exactly identify exactly what the issue is, but we believe you six are the answer. That's the only thing we seem to be able to agree upon."  
>"Please, follow me." Celestia purred deliberately, picking up the Equestrian map and hovering it around her in a graceful orbit as she walked over to a doorway Chaos hadn't noticed upon first entering the palace.<br>The ponies got to their feet, trotting after the Princess, who took shockingly large strides but never seemed to trip over her lanky legs even once. Finally, they reached a stained glass window that, evidently, Twilight hadn't even seen before, as she gasped when she saw it.  
>The six foals, each standing around what looked like a raging fire, a multicoloured swirl of magic coursing from each of them and mixing and eddying and running together. The window itself cast broken rays of light upon the cool tile floor.<br>Celestia sat on her haunches, nodding to each of them and taking a deep breath. "I understand you're merely foals. I'm asking a lot of you. But, I need each of you to go destroy this source of trouble before it kills Equestria." She said seriously.  
>There was a dead silence until Twilight gawked at the princess, gaping. "B-but, they… They're foals!" She leapt to her hooves. "You can't ask this! Ask the Element Bearers to do this! We'll do this, we-"<br>"Twilight Sparkle, the problem is that my own magic only strengthened it. The Elements of Harmony will do the same thing. There's something unidentifiably special about these six. The universe has its way of fixing itself." The Princess elaborated, looking skyward at the arched ceiling. "And I believe these six are the answer. It may or may not have something to do with their relation to the Elements of Harmony."  
>Twilight's pelt was standing on end. "You can't ask this! They could be killed!"<br>Celestia snapped toward Twilight. "You expect me to risk the lives of foals for fun?" She hissed. "Do you think that this is what I want to do? I wouldn't ask this if it wasn't our last option! This is the last opportunity we have before Equestria is destroyed!"  
>The familiar, nervous thumping returned in Chaos' chest. Was… Was Celestia asking her to <em>save all of Equestria?<em> She could only stare blankly forward, her legs unable to support her while she trembled violently. She felt sick.  
>Twilight's gaze snapped to Chaos, at which point she jumped. "What about her? She's Discord's offspring! This! You want THIS to save Equestria?" She snarled, her ears folded back. "What about my son? You can't just be asking us to give up our children!"<br>Celestia bowed her head. "Twilight, you are accusing a foal of incapability because of her parents." She glared. "Has all that I taught you meant nothing? Does it mean nothing to you?" She got to her hooves. "Not only that, but this is our last resort. It's this, or death to everything that lives in Equestria. I have a device that will allow you to watch them from your library as they go on their journey. You will be able to monitor them every second. I would not be asking this if it wasn't our last chance." To Chaos' surprise, Celestia shed a small tear. "I do not enjoy making sacrifices, or threatening lives. I no longer have a choice. We are in the calm before the storm."  
>Twilight sat there, suddenly on her haunches. The lavender unicorn was staring darkly at the ground. Celestia moved forward, resting the tip of her horn on Twilight's head. "I know you have lost much, and you wish to lose no more. But unless you want to lose everything you have, risks have to be taken." Celestia smiled sadly, and Twilight nodded.<br>The princess turned back to the six, who were now shaken up and nervous. Celestia bowed her head sadly. "If you do this, you will be doing all of Equestria a service, and you will receive a remembrance long after your lives have ended, whether they are cut short or not. I will not lie," Celestia took a shaken breath. The stained glass window was now behind her, illuminating her silvery coat with a myriad of hues. "The road will be dangerous, and potentially life-threatening. But you are Equestria's last hope, and I can only do nothing more than beg you to help us."  
>The six sat in stunned silence. Very, very slowly, the grey foal with the blonde mane, Sir Prize, got to his hooves, every limb shaking. "I-I'll go."<br>The remaining five stared at him, but he held his head up in faux confidence. Chaos felt her heartbeat strengthen. "I will!" She leaped to her hooves. "I… I'm gonna prove myself."  
>Celestia stared oddly at her, something between bewilderment and amusement plastered on her face. Slowly, each of the foals stood up and nodded, except for Clockwork. He sat there blankly, seven sets of eyes on him. "There's… no other solution? Nothing at all?" His voice was unnaturally high and he gulped audibly.<br>"I'm afraid not."  
>The colt feigned self-assurance and stood up slowly, stumbling several times. "O… kay."<br>Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, hanging her head.  
>Celestia smiled sadly. "I'm very sorry I'll have to ask this. Thank you. Each of you. Twilight, I'll give you the maps and any necessary items they'll need, along with a list of optional items."<br>Twilight nodded, soberly getting to her hooves with each of the foals shaking. They returned to the throne room in dead silence. Chaos' thoughts wandered back to what Twilight had said about her just several minutes before. Was that what the pony thought of her? Her stomach dropped. Was that what… everypony thought of her?  
>She stared at the floor, skidding her hooves over the tile. Suddenly, she wanted to go back home. And make cupcakes. She only glanced up momentarily to watch Celestia handing Twilight the same rolled up map and six different blank saddlebags, as none of them had cutie marks yet.<br>It just now hit her what had been asked of her. A filly. She had just been asked to travel to, uh. Wherever it was, whatever the place was that Celestia had said, to save Equestria. It dawned on her that the same had been asked of her mom when she had first met her dad, but for some reason, she couldn't wrap her mind around that, or the concept of her father being evil. That eluded her entirely.  
>The Princess called them in, addressing them thoughtfully. "First off," She began with a sigh. "I'd like to thank you, each of you. You are doing Equestria a grand service today. I'm afraid I cannot tell you exactly what you are about to face, but we can only hope that it will be without trouble." She bowed her head. "I wish each of you the best, and a safe journey, and that you leave together tomorrow morning on the crack of dawn."<br>Twilight gaped. "So early?"  
>"We have little time to waste, unfortunately." Celestia nodded, eyes cast downward. "Be prepared to face dragons, diamond dogs, rogue ponies, bandits, hydras… Anything. Things are not always as they seem." She warned. "Somepony may try to trick or double-cross you. And, remember: If something you see doesn't seem real… It probably is not. I have one last gift to bestow upon you, it's the only thing I can hope to give you that may help you."<br>She floated a book over to Twilight, one with a large skull and crossbones on the cover. Twilight stared at it, already carrying a great amount of bags and maps on her back. She flipped through the book thoughtfully. "Creature identification, ward spells, basic first-aid, and anti-venoms?" She asked.  
>Princess Celestia nodded. "Yes. Should you be attacked, this should help you in your hour of need."<br>Twilight dipped her head sluggishly, still seeming shell-shocked from the news. "And, Twilight…" Princess Celestia grabbed one last thing. "I have one thing for you and for the rest of the Elements and their partners. This." She floated over a large glass orb. "You will be able to watch them through this." At this point, Clockwork was helping Twilight Sparkle by grabbing each of the foal's saddlebags and distributing them, as there was no particular order. They were already filled; judging by their weight, but Chaos hadn't bothered to look through them quite yet, and simply fastened the saddlebag to her flank.  
>Celestia nodded again. "Once again, I apologize. I ask that you do not share this information with anyone outside of your families to avoid panic. I'd like to have this problem taken care of without causing a panic."<br>Each of them nodded obediently. "Thank you." Celestia smiled sadly. "You may go, it is probably best that you are honest when you share this information with them."  
>With that, they turned and left. Chaos leisurely ambled over to Solar Flare. "Uh, hi!" She said quickly, trying to lighten the mood.<br>"Oh. Hi."  
>Chaos grimaced. "My name's Candied Chaos."<br>"I know. I've met you."  
>"Yeah, but not that well! If we're gonna be doing this world-saving journey or whatever then we should at least get to know each other!"<br>The Pegasus blinked. "I… I guess. Sorry. I'm still kinda, y'know. Freaked out."  
>"I think this is gonna be fun!" The filly chattered, bouncing beside her newly-made friend.<br>"We're risking our lives. It doesn't sound all that fun to me…" The blue filly trailed off slowly, shifting on her hooves while they walked back to the chariot. Chaos glanced over to Twilight, Clockwork was talking to her softly about something, his brow furrowed.  
>She noticed everypony was scared-looking, except for her. She bounced around carelessly. "Come on, everypony! No need to be so glum!" She chirped, attempting to forget what Twilight had said previously.<br>Her efforts were, for the most part, entirely fruitless. She bit on the inside of her cheek, trying to think of a way to cheer everypony up, but she managed to come up with nothing. Her ears fell and she sighed.  
>They each entered the carriage. Clockwork was sitting next to Twilight this time, with Candied Chaos on his other side, and Gem on her left side.<br>She cocked an ear toward the mother and son in an attempt to hear what their conversation had been previously, as he was speaking so lowly.  
>"We'll be fine." Clockwork murmured, Twilight was silent. She had her eyes closed and seemed to be trying to focus on the edge of the chariot. "Princess Celestia wouldn't send us on some stupid mission thing if she thought she was just going to send us to our deaths. It's all going to be fine, I promise." Clockwork smirked meekly.<br>Twilight only stared downward somberly.  
>The trip back to Ponyville was far quicker than the trip to Canterlot was. Chaos assumed it had something to do with the wind.<br>It had begun to cool down, thankfully. Much of the breeze had taken over as the sun was now beginning to set. The filly was aware that everypony would be waiting at Sugarcube corner when they got back, Twilight would have to deliver the news, and… Well, she wasn't too sure, then. They'd leave in the morning.  
>A weight dropped in her stomach. She'd never even attended public schooling, and now she was going to go off and save the world? She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this. Celestia would never misguide them, but… What if she was just trying to kill them for some reason?<br>She shook herself free of the thought immediately. Why would Celestia send them with so much equipment, then? She looked up, gasping when they sailed straight through a thin, wispy cirrus cloud. The cloud came in contact with them and dissolved immediately, shattering in tiny droplets and moistening their coats, though it simply rolled off anticlimactically.  
>Celestia's sun was now mostly down over the horizon, only about a quarter of it remained visible, sending the rays of light shooting across the sky in a faded mix of hues that went from reddish, to purple, to blue, to purple, and on the other side of the sky, she could clearly see the swimming inkiness of Luna's night, a thin crescent moon hanging loosely in the air. The smell was crisp, so high up. Far away from the heat of the day and humidity, as the air was much thinner at this altitude.<br>She took in a long, deep drink of the air, sucking out all of the oxygen it was worth, and exhaled. The unseen force tugging on her heart lightened slightly as she looked up again into the uninterrupted purple sky, the stars were just beginning to peek through the wisps of clouds.  
>She looked back down at her lap, deciding she might as well examine the contents of her bag. She opened it carelessly, sorting through items. There was general first aid, a blanket, a canteen, and what looked like several packs of dried, compressed flowers that needed water to be added, and a small volume of hay. In all, the food would last around a week, if carefully rationed out. She furrowed her brow. Did Celestia really think that was how long the trip would take?<br>Her stomach began to sink. Of course, they were going to pack food. What a silly thought. She had already established this: Celestia would never do anything to purposely cause them harm. It was a silly thought. Luckily, she had no more time to question the matter as Ponyville was visible on the horizon and they had already began to descend.  
>Once they landed just in front of Sugarcube Corner, everypony stumbled out the door, looking worried. "Are you guys okay?" Rainbow Dash asked nervously, flitting about. "We got worried."<br>"Go inside, everyone." Twilight said calmly, not the slightest hint of stress in her voice as she gathered the things from the chariot, thanked the guards, and came in after them.  
>"Miss Twilight, can Ah please ask ya what's goin' on?" Big MacIntosh asked slowly. "Yer white as a ghost." He pointed out while Apple Core leaned against the stallion.<br>"Well, uh, everyone. There's been… A development." Twilight sighed out the last few words. "Take a seat, everyone."  
>With some trouble, considering the number of chairs that were on the sides of walls or upside-down, kept by an unseen force, everyone found an area to sit. Twilight's eyes scanned the group. "I'm going to ask that no one interrupts while I explain, and know that this is the Princess' request, and not my own. I have no control over this." She took a deep breath and began to explain, albeit shakily, "There is a disturbance in Equestria. It's settled in a region called Dystopia, and it seems to be resonating throughout the kingdom." Twilight bit her lip while Chaos remembered what the name of the area was. "Princess Celestia believes our foals have something to do with it, and that they may be able to stop it. I don't know why, I don't know how. This is what she told me."<br>Twilight paused, seeming as though she had to recall what the Princess had so blatantly told each of them. "She asked the foals to go to Dystopia and stop whatever the source of this disturbance is. She calls it some kind of… imbalance. Her and Luna both noticed that there was a concentration of… Something else, here, in Sugarcube Corner. We can only assume this is because of the party. She thinks that our foals are… Special, and that they can fix it. Evidently, this was her last resort. She didn't want to do it, but it's either this, or Equestria dies. She asks that we don't share this information with anyone but our own families. So, no one outside this room." She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly.  
>A dumbfounded hush had fallen over the room during some point of her talking. "But," Her voice cracked. "She sent me with… This thing." She pulled out the orb with her magic. It was more of a sphere, Candied Chaos observed, as it had a flat bottom that allowed it to be set on surfaces without rolling to one side or the other.<br>"It should allow us to watch them as they go, so we can monitor them. I'm going to set it up in the library. There's… There are several spare rooms, so whoever wants to stay there to keep an eye on it is welcome to." Twilight added.  
>"She just…" Blueblood stood up, his ears back on his head. "She expects us to simply give up our foals? Just because she said so?" He snarled.<br>"Please." Twilight looked at him gently. "This isn't easy for any of us." She swallowed loudly. "Each of them has agreed to go. The Princess is sending them with plenty of supplies and saddlebags, and has assured me that this is her last resort, and she wishes there was some other way. There may be no danger at all, but this is just a precaution as the journey will be long." Twilight nodded, beginning to regain some confidence, as it seemed. "But, ah, she asked that… That they leave tomorrow morning."  
>"WHAT?" Soarin leapt to his feet. "That's ridiculous!"<br>"Please!" Twilight snapped. The room began to erupt into echoes of agreement and begrudging protests. "SHUT UP!" Twilight screeched. A hush fell over the group once again, and Twilight breathed heavily for a moment. "They're going to do it, and the Princess pretty much ordered it! Whether you like it or not, they have to go, okay? It's either this or all of Equestria is destroyed! I'm sorry! You know that you guys and your foals are the world to me! I'd never do anything to risk any of their or your lives! So, please, I'm asking you to do me this favour and just go along with it. I don't particularly like this either, but it's something we have to do! You guys remember facing Nightmare Moon?" She snapped her head to the other five mares in the room. "That was scary, wasn't it? We risked our lives then! Our parents would have tried to have stopped us, too. But Equestria was in trouble! What choice did we have?"  
>Twilight scanned the crowd. "Discord! We were scared! We were terrified, and we were almost torn apart! But, we won, didn't we?" Twilight scanned the group. "If it weren't for Pinkie Pie, he'd still be stone. So, listen, I ask you, this isn't easy. But we have a choice to make, and maybe it's time that we allowed our foals the choice that we had." She smirked weakly. "Maybe, they'll find their cutie marks!"<br>Scootaloo didn't even chuckle at this, she was stone-faced, as were the rest of them.  
>Twilight took a deep breath. "If you'd like to stay in the library tonight, please come with me. We need to pack some extra food and any extra essentials. They have blankets, about a week's worth of food, and a canteen in their saddlebags that the Princess provided."<br>With that, Twilight left, and ponies slowly began to follow after her. For some reason, without protesting. Candied Chaos glanced over to the draconequus in the room. "Can I stay here?"  
>"Yes." Discord answered almost immediately. He scrunched up his face, brow furrowing.<br>"Everything okay, Cordy?~" Pinkie sang, twirling around him and bouncing circles around him.  
>For whatever reason, the chimera didn't answer.<p> 


End file.
